Jung Woo-Sung 정우성 [Movies: “Hunt” + upcoming “A Man of Reason”, “12.12: The Day”]

[bohmi]

October 4, 2019

 

From Lee Hanee's Instagram. Her caption :

Great honor to be with @tojws ! .
#BIFF

 

Marie Claire Asia Star Awards 2019. Photo Credit: Trần Quốc Anh

 

 

Photo Credit: Marie Claire Korea

 

[bohmi]

October 4, 2019

 

Jung Woo Sung won Actor of the Year at Marie Claire Asia Star Awards 2019 

 

 

 

 

[bohmi]

October 3, 2019

 

Busan: ‘Steel Rain’ Sequel Launched by Lotte Cultureworks

 

By SONIA KIL

 

 

“Steel Rain” duo Jung Woo-sung and Kwak Do-won are reuniting in political action drama “Summit: Steel Rain.”

 

While the director and key cast from “Steel Rain” remain the same, Lotte Cultureworks has come on board to replace the film’s previous investor-distributor Next Entertainment World. Lotte will be handling the film’s international sales at Busan International Film Festival’s Asian Film Market.

 

Jung and Kwak, who played the roles of an elite North Korean agent and South Korean chief of foreign affairs who secretly conduct a mission to prevent nuclear war in the Korean peninsula, are returning to “Summit” as South Korea’s president and a North Korean official, respectively. “Steel Rain 2” will see a summit of leaders of South Korea, North Korea and the U.S., where they intend to discuss North Korea’s nuclear issue and a peace settlement for the Korean peninsula, but instead end up being abducted and trapped in a North Korean submarine.

 

In addition to the duo from “Steel Rain,” Yoo Yeon-seok (“Love, Lies”) and Angus Macfadyen (“Braveheart”) are also make appearances in “Summit.” Set for a 2020 release, the film is currently in production.

 

Lotte is also launching two other titles at the Busan rights market: “What Happened to Mr. Cha,” and “Hitman: Agent Jun.”

 

Kim Dong-kyu’s comedy “Mr. Cha” revolves around an actor who was popular for his image of a gentle and perfect man back in the 1990s, but is now no longer as famous. Veteran actor Cha In-pyo (TV’s “All the Butlers”) plays the actor who finds himself in a collapsing building but manages to stick to his image despite the extreme situation. The film is in post-production.

 

“Hitman: Agent Jun” is an action comedy directed by Choi Won-sub. Starring Kwon Sang-woo (“The Accidental Detective”) and Jeoung Jun-ho (“Operation Chromite”), “Hitman” is the story of a top National Intelligence Service agent who becomes a web cartoon artist, but fails to become successful until he draws a web cartoon about his past as a secret agent.

 

Source

[Helena]

https://zapzee.net/2020/06/16/steel-rain-2-summit-is-getting-released-this-summer/

‘Steel Rain 2: Summit’ Is Getting Released This Summer

by krishkim 

 

Actors Jung Woo Sung, Kwak Do Won, and Yoo Yeon Seok will meet the audience this summer.

 

Lotte Entertainment announced on June 16, “The movie ‘Steel Rain 2: Summit’ will be released this summer.” Steel Rain 2: Summit is set in the North Korea’s coup d’etat during the summit of two Koreas and the US. The story takes place when the three leaders are kidnapped and held in the North Korean nuclear submarine.

 

It is the new film by director Yang Woo Suk. He previously directed Steel Rain in 2017. Steel Rain was about the North Korean leader crosses to South Korea after the outbreak of coup d’etat.

 

This time, Jung Woo Sung plays the president of South Korea, whereas Kwak Do Won plays Supreme Guard Command Chief, who leads the coup. Yoo Yeon Seok plays the North Korean Leader, who wants the peace treaty.

 

 

The official poster was also unveiled. First, Jung Woo Sung is busy talking to the president of the US. Kwak Do Won is watching the three leaders with a determined look. Yoo Yeon Seok remained tight-lipped in agony.

 

The most eye-catching one is Yoo Yeon Seok. Most recently, Yoo Yeon Seok played the role of Ahn Jung Won, a sweet pediatrician, in Hospital Playlist. His drastic transformation is drawing much attention.

 

The release of the poster and preview is raising expectations for the official release of Steel Rain 2: Summit.

 

 

Source (1)

 

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https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200617005700315

Strange as fiction: Imaginary explosion in Kaesong treated in 2017 film 'Steel Rain'

 

By Chang Dong-woo

 

SEOUL, June 17 (Yonhap) -- As fearful as it may be, the conflict between the two Koreas has become one of the most tried-and-true subject matters of recent South Korean tentpole films, capturing the imagination of the people living under the constant possibility of war between the divided nations.

 

And while most of these projects tend to strive for historical authenticity, seldom do real-world incidents, such as Tuesday's blowup of an inter-Korean office building in the Kaesong Industrial Complex, eerily echo fictional tales in past films, as seen in the 2017 political action thriller "Steel Rain," which drew around 4.5 million moviegoers at the box office. 

 

"Steel Rain," directed by Yang Woo-seok and starring Jung Woo-sung and Kwak Do-won, depicts a story of the two Koreas on a collision course to nuclear war after a military coup attempt in the North.

 

Other high-profile films that delved into the topic of the division of the Koreas include mystery thriller "Joint Security Area" (2000) by Park Chan-wook, and 2017 action film "Confidential Assignment," starring Hyun Bin and Yoo Hae-jin.

 

"Take Point," a 2018 action film starring Ha Jung-woo and Lee Sun-kyun, centered on infiltrating a secret underground bunker in the Demilitarized Zone, and last year's "Ashfall," a natural disaster film with Ha also as its lead, followed a story on the eruption of Mount Paekdu on the northern tip of the peninsula.

 

Based on Yang's own web comic series from 2011, "Steel Rain" centers on the premise of the North's leader, who is unnamed in the film, being covertly brought over to the South in critical condition after becoming a target of an attack from opposing forces in the North's military leadership.

 

One of the film's big set pieces centers on the ambush attack on the North Korean leader, who visits the factory complex in the North's border town of Kaesong for an event with Chinese diplomats. In the film, North Korean military commandos hijack an artillery system of the U.S. Army in the South, wreaking havoc at the joint industrial park.

 

After seeing news footage of the demolition of the liaison office, fans of "Steel Rain" took to social media to comment on the overlapping of imagery from the movie and the real-life incident. 

 

Coincidentally, a poster and a teaser trailer for "Steel Rain 2: Summit" was released Tuesday just hours before the North unilaterally destroyed the liaison office.

 

"Just as 'Steel Rain 2' is preparing to hit theaters?" one Twitter user wrote in reaction to the news of an explosion in Kaesong.

 

Spoiler

These images provided by South Korea's defense ministry show the inter-Korean liaison office at the Kaesong Industrial Complex being blown up by North Korea on June 16, 2020. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

"Sounds of explosion in Kaesong? I saw 'Steel Rain' yesterday, It's a historically accurate movie," another person commented. Another user uploaded a screenshot of Tuesday's news footage on the incident with the comment, "Still image from 'Steel Rain 2 leaked.'"

 

The first film was released in December 2017 amid heightened tensions after Pyongyang's sixth and most powerful nuclear test in September of that year, a series of missile tests, including an intercontinental ballistic missile, and constant back-and-forth threats of war between the United States and the North.

 

A poster for 2017 action thriller "Steel Rain," provided by distributor NEW. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

Kaesong was the North's key military foothold before the joint industrial park was built under an agreement reached at the first-ever inter-Korean summit between then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and the late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in 2000. 
 

Once touted as a model for cross-border economic cooperation, marrying mostly small manufacturing businesses from the South with cheap-yet-skilled labor from the North, the complex was suspended in 2016 following the North's nuclear and missile provocations.

 

Seoul and Pyongyang opened the now-destroyed office in 2018 as part of efforts to facilitate cross-border exchanges and cooperation by keeping a communication channel up and running around the clock. 

 

Although directed by Yang and also sharing two of the main leads from "Steel Rain," "Steel Rain 2" set to be released within this year is not a direct sequel and does not share the same universe with the 2017 film. Yang subverts expectations of the audience by reversing the nationalities of the characters portrayed by Jung and Kwak.

 

Jung, who played a member of the North Korean ex-special forces in the 2017 film, is cast as the South Korean president, while Kwak's character, who was a national security aide to the South Korean leader, takes on the role of the chief of the North's Supreme Guard Command, who leads a coup.

 

Following a fictional crisis that unfolds after the leaders of the two Koreas and the United States are kidnapped in a North Korean nuclear-powered submarine, "Steel Rain 2" also features Yoo Yeon-seok as the North Korean leader and Scottish actor Angus Macfadyen in the role of the American president. 

 

 

odissy@yna.co.kr
(END)

 

—————————————————————————————————

 

http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2020/06/20/2020062000452.html

Actor Jung Woo-sung Embraces Social, Professional Challenges

By Choi Bo-yun | June 20, 2020

 

Actor Jung Woo-sung has evolved from celebrity to social activist without neglecting his artistic career.

 

He was appointed as a goodwill ambassador for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 2015 and has paid for his own trips to refugee camps in Nepal, South Sudan and Lebanon while raising awareness of the plight of displaced people.

 

Jung published an essay on refugees in June last year titled "If You Could See What I've Seen," which has sold some 20,000 copies. The book is set to hit stores in Taiwan on Saturday, which marks World Refugee Day. 

 

"Refugees face major difficulties due to the spread of coronavirus," Jung said. "This is a difficult time for everyone, but I urge everyone to consider their plight too.

 

Jung has both been lauded for his compassion and criticized for idealism. But the actor says he will continue. "In the past, I think I tried to express my views out of a desire to show off, but now I'm trying to influence the public by becoming a better person myself and setting a good example."

 

The heartthrob rose to fame with the 1997 movie "Beat" and has starred in many others since then. "I didn't just want to be a star and have been searching for new roles to play to evolve as an actor," Jung said. "Some people might think that I was lost, but for me it was a process of finding out who I am through constant challenges."

 

And the evolution continues. Now he is directing his first movie, "Guardian," and also stars alongside Kim Nam-gil and Park Sung-woong. "I realized over the last few years that the only way to remain valuable and retain your reputation is through ceaseless self-renewal," he said.

[Helena]

https://zapzee.net/2020/06/24/why-is-steel-rain-2-summit-called-steel-rain-2/

Why is ‘Steel Rain 2: Summit’ Called ‘Steel Rain 2’?

 

by krishkim 

 

Why is it called Steel Rain 2? This is the question Steel Rain 2, which has been at the center of the spotlight as North Korea continues provocations, received after announcing its release this summer. Director Yang Woo Suk talked about the title of Steel Rain 2: Summit (hereinafter referred to as Steel Rain 2), which advocates a complementary sequel rather than a sequel that continues the previous story.

 

Spoiler

 

Steel Rain 2 depicts a crisis near the brink of war as the three leaders are kidnapped by a North Korean nuclear submarine in a coup d’état during a summit between the two Koreas and the United States. It shares the critical thinking of the road to peace between the two Koreas and the starting point of the war crisis caused by the outbreak of political upheaval in North Korea with the previous film Steel Rain.

However, the story of Steel Rain 2 does not follow the story of the previous film. As China has rapidly emerged as the hegemonic power, the Korean Peninsula is caught up with the deepening conflict between the US and China. And in the midst of this crisis, the movie presents a solution to peace regime.

 

Steel Rain began with the North Korean Leader crossing over to the South shortly after the coup d’état and showed a path to peace through cooperation between South Korean senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs and national security and a former agent of the North Korean Special Forces. However, Steel Rain 2depicts a crisis on the brink of war in Northeast Asia after the three leaders are kidnapped and held in the North Korean nuclear submarine as the North Korean coup occurs during the summit between the two Koreas and the US.

 

Director Yang Woo Suk said, “If Steel Rain started from the imagination of ‘what if the right to decided regarding the peace issue of the Korean Peninsula had been completely left to the hands of South and North Korea?,’ Steel Rain 2 started from the reality of the Korean Peninsula caught up in complicated terrain such as the US-China conflict and Japan’s checks.”

 

The fact that Jung Woo Sung, who played a former agent of the North Korean Special Forces in Steel Rain, plays the role of the president of South Korea in Steel Rain 2, and Kwak Do Won, who played South Korean senior presidential secretary for foreign affairs and national security in Steel Rain, plays Supreme Guard Command Chief who leads the coup in Steel Rain 2 is also an extension of this critical thinking.

 

In other words, the movie shows the reality of even if the parties of the two Koreas change their camps and seek different solutions, the fate of the Korean Peninsula is not something that the South and the North can decide on their own. Steel Rain, which started as a fantasy but proceeded with the reality, and Steel Rain 2, which begins with the reality of the two Koreas of being in the center of storm among superpower, but dramatically follows the path to peace, have a complementary relationship.

 

Steel Rain 2, a realistic portrayal of a possible crisis between the divided Koreas and the great powers surrounding the Korean Peninsula with expanded critical thinking and greater scale, is scheduled to be released this summer.

 

——————

 

JTBC PLUS | 2020. 06. 23.

"Steel Rain 2" drops tense still-cuts featuring main cast, Yoo Yeon Seok makes most shocking transformation

Spoiler

 

The new movie "Steel Rain 2: Summit'' directed by Yang Woo Seok with the participation of actors Jung Woo Sung, Kwak Do Won, Yoo Yeon Seok has released a series of still-cut photos depicting the unpredictable situation that leaders of South Korea, North Korea, and the United States have to face when being abducted onto a nuclear submarine in a North Korean coup during the summit.

"Steel Rain 2: Summit" is about a dangerous situation right before the war after three leaders were kidnapped and detained in a North Korean nuclear submarine because a coup occurred during the US - South-North Korea Summit. A series of still-cuts released on June 24 gave viewers a sense of tension when vividly depicting a perilous situation that might actually occur in the Korean Peninsula, the world's only divided country, and stories of those who fall into that situation.

The first image is of actor Jung Woo Sung playing the President of South Korea - who is working hard for the success of the Peace Treaty signing among South Korea, North Korea and the United States. Audiences can't help getting curious to see Jung Woo Sung having a completely different occupation and nationality from Uhm Cheol Woo - the most elite spy of North Korea in the movie "Steel Rain". In addition, Kwak Do Won - the actor who played the high-ranking official Kwak Chul Woo of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Security of the Blue House in "Steel Rain" - takes the role of the head of the Guards Division in this work. As the leader of the coup in North Korea, he will show a dominant and serious appearance and such a powerful gaze that can threaten all three leaders. The new sequel of "Steel Rain" also features Yoo Yeon Seok as North Korea's President. The actor has the most shocking "makeover" in his filmography: a short haircut and intense eyes to demonstrate the stature of the highest leader of North Korea despite his young age. Along with that, the participation of Angus Macfadyen, the actor who once perfectly transformed into the President of the US - the world's most powerful country - with a tough physique and heavy expressions, has aroused viewers' expectations about the new uniformity and attractiveness of the cast.

The leaders of South Korea, North Korea, and the United States have gathered for a summit. However, North Korean President Yoo Yeon Seok and US President Angus Macfadyen confronted each other aggressively due to disagreements in the benefit-based relationship. The image of South Korean President Jung Woo Sung making efforts to convince the two sides foretells viewers that the future of these leaders may not come in peace. In the meantime, a coup is launched in North Korea in such a situation that all three parties are unable to find a common voice. A very tense situation is created when the North Korean People's Army is mobilized for the coup to suppress the escort guards that are protecting the leaders of the countries, expectedly attracting much attention of the audience. The three leaders are now confined in a cramped captain's room on the Baekdu nuclear submarine of North Korea instead of at the official summit where they can't easily reveal their true thoughts. The image of the 3 leaders removing their emotionless masks and sharing their own true viewpoints is heightening viewers' curiosity about their future moves so as to prevent the risk of war from possibly spreading throughout the Northeast Asia region. Finally, the tense facial expressions of South Korean President Jung Woo Sung and Vice-Captain of Baekdu submarine Shin Jung Geun - North Korea's top combat submarine strategist, intertwined with the image of nuclear submarines, including North Korea's Baekdu submarine where the 3 leaders are confined, the submarines of the US and Japan, have raised the audience's expectations for an authentic submarine battle that first appeared in Korean film history.

"Steel Rain 2: Summit" will promisingly set the theaters on fire this summer.

Reporter Park Jung Sun park.jungsun@jtbc.co.kr
Everything Idol, Everyday Exclusive
http://vtoday.vlive.tv/home

 

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https://zapzee.net/2020/06/25/steel-rain-2-summit-unveils-two-suspenseful-main-posters/

‘Steel Rain 2: Summit’ Unveils Two Suspenseful Main Posters

 

by krishkim 

 

Director Yang Woo Suk’s new film, Steel Rain 2: Summit, which became the talk of the town with the appearances of Jung Woo Sung, Kwak Do Won, and Yoo Yeon Seok, unveiled two main posters.

 

Steel Rain 2: Summit depicts a crisis on the brink of war in Northeast Asia after the three leaders are kidnapped and held in the North Korean nuclear submarine as the North Korean coup d’état breaks out during the summit between the two Koreas and the US.

 

 

The main posters attract attention with the heavy presence of the president of South Korea (Jung Woo Sung), North Korean Leader (Yoo Yeon Seok), the US president (Angus Macfadyen), and Supreme Guard Command Chief (Kwan Do Won), who leads the coup.

As if to show the urgency of the North Korean coup, the images of the three leaders surrounded by guns and agonizing over different outcomes in their respective positions raise questions about the fate they will face in North Korean nuclear submarine “Baekduho.“

 

Steel Rain 2: Summit, which will be portrayed realistically through the coexistence and confrontation of the four actors, will be released this summer.

 

Source (1)

[Helena]

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200629005300315
Three Korean blockbusters likely to lead summer box office race amid pandemic

 

SEOUL, June 29 (Yonhap) -- This year's summer box office will highly likely be a three-way race among Korean movies as two Hollywood blockbusters -- "Mulan" and Christopher Nolan's "Tenet" -- delayed their July releases.

 

The summer peak season is when most box office hits come out in the country.

 

According to foreign press reports, Disney's "Mulan" postponed its release date from July 24 to Aug. 21 due to the worsening new coronavirus pandemic in the United States. Warner Brothers' "Tenet," which had already delayed its release from July 17 to late July, reportedly pushed the opening further back to Aug. 12.

 

The question now is whether three big-budget Korean films set to open this summer -- zombie thriller "Peninsula," action film "Deliver Us From Evil" and thriller "Steel Rain 2: Summit" -- will be able to save local cinemas hit hard by the pandemic.

 

A scene from "Peninsula" by NEW (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

Director Yeon Sang-ho's second zombie film after smash-hit "Train to Busan" (2016) is the first of the three films to arrive at the summer box office.

 

Starring silver screen star Gang Dong-won, "Peninsula" will hit the local screens on July 15, heralding the start of the summer vacation season. It is poised to repeat the feat of its predecessor, released on July 20, 2016, that attracted a total of 11.6 million admissions.

 

"Peninsula" is set in the same universe four years after its prequel, in which the whole country was hit by zombies except for the southern port city of Busan. Jung-seok (Gang Dong-won), a former soldier who escaped the zombie-infested peninsula four years ago, is tasked with going back to the devastated land to retrieve something.

A scene from "Deliver Us From Evil" by CJ Entertainment (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

In early August, "Evil" will be released to target summer vacationers between end-July and early-August.

 

The film revolves around a professional killer, who plans to retire after carrying out his last mission. But he is embroiled in unexpected incidents as an unidentified pursuer tries to kill him. It is in the media spotlight for being the first collaboration between star actors Hwang Jung-min and Lee Jung-jae after their 2013 hit crime opera "New World." Hwang played the kingpin of a corporate crime syndicate, and Lee was a deep-cover cop and his right-hand man.

 

A scene from "Steel Rain 2: Summit" by Lotte Entertainment (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

At the same time, "Steel Rain 2" is preparing to open in early August, with a poster and a teaser trailer released on social media.

 

Starring seasoned actor Jung Woo-sung, the film features a fictional kidnapping of leaders of the two Koreas and the United States in a North Korean nuclear-powered submarine.

 

Although it shares two of the main leads of the 2017 political action thriller "Steel Rain," "Steel Rain 2" is not a direct sequel of its predecessor, which drew around 4.5 million moviegoers at the box office, and does not share the same universe.

 

Insiders expect the virus-hit film industry, which is showing some signs of rebound in June after a monthslong slump, will be bolstered by the upcoming competition of the three summer tentpoles.

 

Due to fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the South Korean box office has been in a deep slump for about four months, with its daily admissions slumping to 15,000 in April.

 

Dozens of big-budget titles, including the space opera "Space Sweepers," starring Song Joong-ki and Kim Tae-ri, postponed their releases to the latter half of this year.

 

brk@yna.co.kr
(END)

——————

 

https://www.screendaily.com/news/koreas-acemaker-movieworks-launches-sales-team-for-cannes/5150853.article

Korea’s Acemaker movieworks launches sales team for Cannes

 

BY JEAN NOH | 21 JUNE 2020

 

South Korean financier, producer and distributor Acemaker movieworks is launching its own sales unit at the Cannes virtual market.

Headed by former M-Line Distribution executive Jamie Seo, the company’s international business team is selling films including the directorial debut of leading Korean actor Jung Woo-sung, Protector (working title). The kidnap revenge thriller, which stars Jung with Kim Nam-gil and Park Sung-woong, is currently in production.

 

Acemaker also has Kim Tae-yong’s sci-fi drama Wonderland (working title) in production. Set in a world where people can meet AI versions of their deceased loved ones in virtual reality, the film has cast Parasite’s Choi Woo-shik, Tang Wei from Lust, Caution, Train To Busan’s Jung Yu-mi and Gong Yoo, as well as Park Bo-gum (TV’s Reply 1988) and K-pop star Bae Suzy.

 

At the online Marche, the company will be focusing sales efforts on Dirty Money (working title), from debut director Kim Min-soo and starring Jung Woo and Kim Dae-myeong as two detectives forced to go on the run from a Chinese gang, and New Year Blues (working title), directed by Hong Ji-young (Marriage Blue) and starring Kim Kang-woo, Yoo In-na, Yoo Yeon-suk, Lee Yeon-hee, Yoo Teo, Choi Soo-young, Lee Dong-hwi and Chen Du-ling in an ensemble romantic comedy that unfolds on New Year’s Eve.

 

Acemaker movieworks started out two years ago and is headed up by former Showbox production director Helen Jung, whose credits include A Taxi Driver, The Prison, Tunnel and A Hard Day. “The times are changing rapidly but we still believe in the strength and influence of theatrical features,” the CEO tells Screen.

 

“Understanding and respect for creators is at the foundation of our company. Like our name, Acemaker, we try to support creators inside and outside of their films and make them aces. We avoid selections that are tied to genre or convention but beyond our own tastes, we try to choose films that will give the general public proper enjoyment,” she says.

 

The company decided to invest in and distribute actor Jung Woo-sung’s directorial debut based on the script, bringing in other investors and funds to build the $6.8m budget. “I thought the refreshing action and the desperate sensibilities of a father trying to save his daughter were well mixed, like in Taken,” says Jung.

 

Acemaker movieworks have so far backed, produced and/or distributed films such as The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil (2019), which starred Don Lee and sold to Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions for an English-language remake, and Intruder, one of the first films to go ahead with a theatrical release after the pandemic.

 

The $3.5m mystery thriller, which stars Song Ji-hyo and Kim Moo-yul and follows a man who undergoes hypnosis to find his wife’s killer and instead encounters his long-lost sister, opened on June 4 and has clocked up $3.8m to date, according to the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). 

 

“Whether we like it or not, the pandemic has swept upon our daily lives but we can’t just wait around blaming the situation,” says Jung.

 

“Since May, the spread of the novel coronavirus in South Korea started to get under control and the government suggested several different programmes to support the film industry including providing cinema ticket discount coupons that gave us strength,” she continues. “In June, we released Intruder and Me And Me one after the other. Fortunately, cinema admissions numbers are slowing rising again in Korea.”

 

The directorial debut of veteran actor Jung Jin-young, Me And Me opened on June 18, topping the Korean box office chart and so far clocking up $797,000 according to KOFIC.

 

Up to now, Acemaker have been consigning their films for international sales to companies such as Contents Panda and Finecut, which will continue to handle some Acemaker titles at this market including Intruder, Me And Me and crime thriller Voice Of Silence.

 

[Helena]

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200702008400315

'Steel Rain 2' intended to dramatize geopolitics on Korean Peninsula, says director
 

By Kim Boram

 

SEOUL, July 2 (Yonhap) -- The upcoming action drama "Steel Rain 2: Summit" is intended to give a clear window into geopolitics on the Korean Peninsula through the fictional setting of tripartite summit talks in a closed space, the film's director said Thursday.

 

"Since the end of the Cold War, the Korean Peninsula has been in danger for about 30 years," director Yang Woo-seok said in a press conference streamed online. "The setting of this film will show us that the two Koreas can neither end this state of war nor build a peace regime by themselves."

 

Spoiler

Director Yang Wook-seok speaks at an online press conference on his upcoming action drama film "Steel Rain 2: Summit" on July 2, 2020, in this photo provided by Lotte Entertainment. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

"Steel Rain 2" features a fictional kidnapping of leaders of South Korea, North Korea and the United States in a North Korean nuclear-powered submarine after a coup by a North Korean general (Kwan Do-won). Star actor Jung Woo-sung plays the South Korean president, and Yoo Yeon-seok takes the role of the North Korean leader, while Scottish actor Angus Macfadyen portrays the U.S. president.

 

It is a sequel to Yang's 2017 political action thriller "Steel Rain," about a North Korean spy agent who defects to the South after becoming a target of an attack from opposing forces in the North's military leadership.

 

But "Steel Rain 2" does not continue the storyline and characters of its predecessor, even though its lead actors of Jung and Kwak star in both films. Jung was a North Korean agent in the 2017 film, and Kwak played a South Korean official.

 

Director Yang, who worked on the original web comic trilogy "Steel Rain" from 2011, said the two films share their universe and main ideas, calling the latter a complementary sequel.

 

"I've cast the same actors, but they changed their roles, especially their sides. But there were few changes in the other cast members for China, Japan and the U.S.," said Yang, who directed the hit biographical movie "The Attorney" (2013), which attracted 11 million admissions.

 

"It suggests that the current regional dynamics will remain the same even though South and North Korea change their approaches, as external factors decide geopolitics in the region," he noted.

 

As the leaders of three countries are confined in a small cabin in a submarine, the real tripartite summit begins there.

 

"There have been several inter-Korean and North Korea-U.S. summits so far, and news reports have only shown us preparations before the summits and press conferences after them. We've never seen the actual talks," Yang said. "Our film streams the summit talks of three countries from the beginning to end."

 

Spoiler

A scene from "Steel Rain 2: Summit" by Lotte Entertainment (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

The actor Jung said he needed time to determine to join "Steel Rain 2" as a South Korean president who participates in the unprecedented tripartite summit.

 

"The second movie sees the Korean Peninsula from a cool-headed point of view," the 47-year-old actor said. "I studied a lot about the history of inter-Korean summits and presidents. I had to imagine what the leaders thought of the future and the Korean Peninsula and how they led the summits."

 

Yoo, whose character looks far different from the North Korean leader in the real world in appearance, said he tried to create a leader who feels great pressure to retain the regime against regional superpowers.

 

"I was first reluctant to take the role because I couldn't imagine playing a North Korean leader," he said. "The film features geopolitical situations in a realistic way, but it's fiction so I can create my own character."

 

"Steel Rain 2" will hit local screens on July 29.

 

 

brk@yna.co.kr
(END)

 

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http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200702000829

Summit takes place on submarine in ‘Steel Rain 2’

Director takes more realistic approach to inter-Korean conflict in second film

By Choi Ji-won | July 2, 2020

 

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” (Lotte Entertainment)

 

 

The lead actors of 2017 film “Steel Rain,” Jung Woo-sung and Kwak Do-won, flip their roles in the upcoming “complementary sequel” to the first movie, as put by the director of both films Yang Woo-seok. 

Jung, who previously played a North Korean special agent, takes up the role of the South Korean president, and Kwak, a presidential secretary of the South in the first film, becomes the North Korean regime’s chief of security.

With Yoo Yeon-seok playing the North Korean leader and Scottish actor Angus Macfadyen the US president, the four main actors depict the marathon summit between the three nations taking place on a submarine. Kidnapped and taken to a submarine after a coup d’etat in the North, the three leaders must find a way to prevent a war on the Korean Peninsula. 

According to the director, compared to his previous film the sequel sends a more levelheaded yet sad message that the inter-Korean conflict cannot be resolved by the efforts of the two Koreas alone. 

“By swapping the North and South blocs of the actors, I thought we could show that nothing about the current regimes on the Korean Peninsula would change just by changing the positions of the two Koreas,” Yang said during the film’s promotional event Thursday. Jung, Kwak and Yoo joined Yang in the event, but Macfadyen was absent due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“The two Koreas were not divided of our own will, and this means we cannot make peace or reunite by ourselves either. ‘Steel Rain 2’ sees this situation more realistically and deals with more fundamental issues of the division, a peace regime and the risk of war,” Yang said.

 

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” (Lotte Entertainment)

 

In roles that could easily overlap with real-world figures, the actors said there was much research and interpretation into the characters involved. While Yoo plays the young leader facing the collapse of his kingdom, Kwak plays the character who leads the coup.

“I didn’t think that my character was a mere villain. North Korea has shown different attitudes toward the South in the real world, and I tried to depict an aspect of North Korea that contrasts with what Yoo’s character depicts,” Kwak said.

“I felt weight on my shoulders when I imagined myself actually becoming a leader at such a young age. I felt that the thoughts and concerns going through young people’s minds will not be much different, even under different regimes. Rather than focusing on my appearance, I tried to act out such thoughts of the youth,” Yoo said.

The film takes place inside a submarine where the leaders are forced to stay together and face one another until they reach an agreement.

“The smell of oil inside the submarine was the most shocking,” Kwak said, speaking about a visit to an actual submarine. “Being inside there for even a few hours gave me a serious headache, and the place was so small that it was a wonder how almost 20 people could live inside a submarine.”

“Even as we were shooting on set, I felt the psychological pressure of being in the dark, deep water,” Yoo said, adding the restricted location made it possible to portray even the slightest changes in power relationship and emotions more sensitively.

 

Lead actors of “Steel Rain 2: Summit” (from left) Kwak Do-won, Yoo Yeon-seok and Jung Woo-sung and director Yang Woo-seok pose for pictures during the film’s press conference held on Thursday. (Lotte Entertainment)

Jung hinted of a twist behind his portrayal of the South Korea president.

“There’s a lot of dark humor and satire as the three leaders are confined inside the submarine. When I first read the script, it seemed somewhat like a skit. The film tells the story of the most intimate sounds coming from a human being.”

Over the recent decade, Yang has expanded his idea about the North Korean regime and the risk of crisis on the Korean Peninsula through three webtoon series and two films. The first film was based on his first webtoon series of the same title launched in 2011, and the latest film is an adaptation of the latest comic series, which is currently running on portal site Daum.

“The ‘Steel Rain’ series consistently talks about three risks: first, the possibility of North Korean regime collapse, second, that this collapse can lead to a war, and last, how South Koreas have a biased view of the North, only seeing what we want -- whether that is anger, rage, ignorance or groundless optimism,” Yang said. “I’m making my works thinking that I’m sewing together pieces of cloth with which we could understand the Korean Peninsula.”

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” hits local theaters on July 29. 

By Choi Ji-won (jwc@heraldcorp.com)

 

————

 

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2020/07/02/entertainment/movies/Steel-Rain-2-Summit-Steel-Rain-Jung-Woosung/20200702183006606.html

'Steel Rain 2: Summit' features summits and submarines

July 2, 2020

 

From left, actors Kwak Do-won, Yoo Yeon-seok, Jung Woo-sung and director Yang Woo-seok pose for a photo during an online press event for "Steel Rain 2: Summit" on Thursday. [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

 

Imagine this mind-blowing scenario: three leaders of three countries—North Korea, South Korea and the United States—are kidnapped in a nuclear submarine as part of a coup by North Korea.

 

This is the plot for “Steel Rain 2: Summit,” which pictures the three leaders gathering to sign a peace treaty.

 

“Steel Rain 2: Summit" can be seen as a complementary sequel to "Steel Rain (2017)," director Yang Woo-seok said at an online press event on Thursday.

 

“Although the plot and the characters are different, the overall cinematic universe and the theme of the story remains the same—what we could do about our division, unification and the threat of war that exists within the country.”

 

Yang added that his latest film may contain a more objective view of the Korean peninsula’s diplomatic situation compared to “Steel Rain,” which was about a budding comradeship that arises between a Northern Korean agent and South Korean senior presidential secretary.

 

“If the two comrades were able to do something about their situation concerning that of their two countries’ in the prior film, in this film it becomes more realistic—mirroring our current reality,” Yang continued. “The relationship between the North and South hasn’t changed that much in the past three decades, until very recently. We’ve gone back and forth between periods of reconciliation and tension, but we’ve never taken a step forward to make peace because it’s never been our own fight. Although we may suffer from the division, for the third parties [our situation] is related to their national interests. I tried to show our state [of helplessness] through the film.”

 

Jung Woo-sung and Kwak Do-won, who played the Northern soldier and South Korean politician, have switched their roles for the second film. In “Steel Rain 2,” Jung assumes the role of the South Korean president while Kwak is the Northern leader of the rebellion.

 

“It was my first time playing a North Korean, and I did struggle a bit with the accent,” Kwak said. “I didn’t think that my character was evil. He just represents a different side of interest that deviates from the current North Korean leader.”

 

Actor Yoo Yeon-seok, a new addition to the Steel Rain universe, features as the North Korean leader.

 

“At first, I was overwhelmed with the daunting task of connecting with the role of a leader who has to run a country,” Yoo said. “But as I probed deeper into the character, instead of simply labeling him as the leader of his own nation, I thought what would he worry about when he meets other leaders who are much older than him and have different ideologies and mindsets. When I brought him down to that level, I could relate to him more.”

 

Scottish actor Angus Macfadyen features as the U.S. president.

 

“This character is a very vulgar and narcisstic man who thinks that he’s [always] right and everyone else is wrong,” said Macfadyen through a recorded video chat at the press event. “But the story is incredibly human [while] I found it to be a very interesting political drama set in this extraordinary situation where three powerful men are kidnapped and put into this nuclear submarine.”

 

Jung agreed with Macfadyen.

 

“Although the questions that the film throw to the audience are realistic and rational, what drives the story forward is the rapport between these three leaders,” Jung said. “There’s a lot of black humor and satire in their dialogue, and when I read the script I thought I was watching an episode from Saturday Night Live.”

 

“It’s hard enough to be in an airplane for hours, let alone in a submarine,” Yang said. “When we watch the news about summits, we’ve actually never seen it on live broadcast. We just see the press talk about it for weeks, listen to the announcements made and that’s all. But when they [the leaders] are trapped in a submarine together, they have to face each other for a long time, whether or not they want to. In a way, they’re holding a summit inside the submarine, and we, as the audience, can see it happening scene by scene.”

 

The film is scheduled to hit local theaters on July 29.

BY LEE JAE-LIM   [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]   

[Helena]

https://zapzee.net/2020/07/10/jung-woo-sung-to-appear-on-yoo-quiz-on-the-block-and-meet-yoo-jae-suk-four-years-after-infinite-challenge/
Jung Woo Sung to Appear on ‘Yoo Quiz On The Block’ and Meet Yoo Jae Suk Four Years After ‘Infinite Challenge’
 

by krishkim

 

Credit: NEW, Hankook Ilbo

 

Actor Jung Woo Sung will have a “special meeting” with Yoo Jae Suk. After appearing on Infinite Challenge in 2016, Jung Woo Sung reunite with Yoo Jae Suk through Yoo Quiz On The Block.

 

According to OSEN, Jung Woo Sung decided to appear on tvN’s popular entertainment show Yoo Quiz On The Block. To avoid any spoilers, specific schedules will stay private.

 

Yoo Quiz On The Block is a quiz show that aims at spreading warmth and support to the public. With Yoo Jae Suk and Jo Se Ho entering ordinary people’s daily lives, they will randomly chat with the passer-by along the street and surprise them with pop quizzes. However, in the recent episodes, the hosts have been meeting with celebrities or public figures and hearing their stories rather than going out in the streets due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Jung Woo Sung’s appearance is considered a part of his promotional activities for his new movie Steel Rain 2: Summit, which will be released on July 29. Since the actor has shown his unique frankness and sincerity through entertainment shows and interviews, the expectations are rising rapidly.

 

Meanwhile, Steel Rain 2: Summit depicts a crisis near the brink of war as the three leaders are kidnapped by a North Korean nuclear submarine in a coup d’état during a summit between the two Koreas and the United States.

 

Source (1)

 

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https://www.soompi.com/article/1411956wpp/watch-jung-woo-sung-yoo-yeon-seok-and-more-talk-about-teaming-up-for-steel-rain-sequel
Watch: Jung Woo Sung, Yoo Yeon Seok, And More Talk About Teaming Up For “Steel Rain” Sequel

 

by S. Nam | Jul 10, 2020

 

 

Upcoming film “Steel Rain 2: Summit” (working title) shared a new behind-the-scenes video!

 

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” is the sequel to 2017’s “Steel Rain,” which was about the aftermath of a coup in North Korea. “Steel Rain 2” is about a crisis that occurs when the three leaders of the Koreas-United States summit are kidnapped in a North Korean nuclear-powered submarine.

 

“Steel Rain” and “Steel Rain 2” are not directly connected to each other and the returning actors have been cast in different roles. Jung Woo Sung plays the South Korean president, Yoo Yeon Seok plays the North Korean chairman, and Kwak Do Won plays the director of the North Korean guards behind the kidnapping attempt. Scottish actor Angus Macfadyen plays the U.S. president.

 

In the video detailing the production process, director Yang Woo Seok explains that “Steel Rain 2” is a very realistic film that reflects the current issues around the world. The director and production team also share that they created a life-size submarine for the set using actual submarine parts.

 

After seeing the set, Kwak Do Won comments, “It’s exactly a submarine. Bravo!” Yoo Yeon Seok also says, “I saw Dokdo here, slightly southeast of Ulleungdo.” Former navy submarine captain Kim Yong Woo also comments on how realistic the scene in which the torpedo explodes underwater was.

 

On his new role as the South Korean president, Jung Woo Sung shares, “Becoming a president is a really lonely and extremely difficult job.” Although Jung Woo Sung even asked the director why he gave him such a difficult role, the director praises the actor for his skilled and humane portrayal of a president who has to deal with many difficult issues.

 

Kwak Do Won also describes his character as someone who loves his country and his people. He explains, “I put in effort to portray the director of the North Korean guards as a figure that lives by his own principles, rather than as a simple villain.” Furthermore, Yoo Yeon Seok says that he tried to imagine himself as a North Korean chairman to start immersing himself into the role.

 

On their teamwork with Angus Macfadyen, Jung Woo Sung shares, “We tried to show that we’ve become one team, so it felt like a very refreshing project.” Yoo Yeon Seok comments, “It was really nice to be able to act in one frame together.”

Watch the full video below!

Spoiler

 

 

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” will premiere on July 29. Check out a teaser for the film here!

 

Source (1)

 

——————————
 

https://www.soompi.com/article/1412205wpp/jung-woo-suk-and-yoo-yeon-seok-joke-about-their-characters-in-steel-rain-sequel-talk-about-impact-of-covid-19-on-film-industry

Jung Woo Sung And Yoo Yeon Seok Joke About Their Characters In “Steel Rain” Sequel + Talk About Impact Of COVID-19 On Film Industry

by C. Hong | Jul 11, 2020

 

 

On the July 11 episode of KBS’s “I Love Movies,” the cast of the “Steel Rain” sequel sat down to talk about their movie.

 

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” (literal title) is the sequel to 2017’s “Steel Rain.” The two films are not directly connected and the returning actors have been cast in different roles. “Steel Rain 2” is about a crisis that unfolds when the three leaders of the Koreas-United States summit are kidnapped in a North Korean nuclear-powered submarine.

Jung Woo Sung plays the South Korean president, Yoo Yeon Seok plays the North Korean chairman, and Kwak Do Won plays the director of the North Korean guards behind the kidnapping attempt. Scottish actor Angus Macfadyen plays the U.S. president.

The MC for “I Love Movies” stated, “I think that those who watched the first ‘Steel Rain’ will be curious as to how Jung Woo Sung could be in the sequel.” Jung Woo Sung quipped, “I’ve been reborn. I thought about whether the president could be as handsome as me. It’s a movie with lots of good-looking people.”

 

Yoo Yeon Seok said, “You’ll become immersed in the movie as soon as you see Jung Woo Sung as the president.”

Jung Woo Sung joked, “Kang Dong Won and Gong Yoo have played North Koreans in movies before, but suddenly Kwak Do Won has joined their ranks. Yoo Yeon Seok is also a North Korean in the film, but he’s the chairman.”

 

Yoo Yeon Seok said, “I thought it was a typo when my name was written next to ‘North Korean chairman.’ I thought, ‘Not Kwak Do Won but me?’ I asked again and they said it was definitely me.”

 

Jung Woo Sung said, “He filmed this movie before he filmed the drama ‘Hospital Playlist.’ I think that he was a perfect fit for the role.”

On a more serious note, the actors talked about the impact of COVID-19 on the movie industry. Jung Woo Sung said, “It’s a difficult time. It’s a situation in which we have to be cautious about asking people to come to the theater to watch our film. But if we make movies and then can’t show them, then the entire industry will collapse.”
 

Yoo Yeon Seok added, “I hope that people will be able to watch the movie comfortably without feeling burdened.”

 

Spoiler

 

“Steel Rain 2” premieres in South Korea on July 29.

 

Source (1) (2) (3) (4)

[Helena]

https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/newfilm.jsp?seq=394&mode=VIEW
Steel Rain2: Summit

by Pierce Conran | Jul 28, 2020

2020 | 131 MIN | Action, Drama
DIRECTOR YANG Woo-suk
CAST JUNG Woo-sung, KWAK Do-won, YOO Yeon-seok, Angus MACFAYDEN
RELEASE DATE July 29, 2020
CONTACT Lotte Cultureworks Lotte Entertainment Co.,Ltd
Tel +82 2 3470 3400 
Fax +82 2 3470 3549 
Email international@lotte.net

Three years after Steel Rain (2017) became an end-of-year hit, Director YANG Woo-suk and stars JUNG Woo-sung and KWAK Do-won are returning to theaters this week with the sequel Steel Rain2: Summit, one of this summer’s major offerings hoping to get viewers back into theaters.

However, though the new film once again explores a tense geopolitical situation involving governments from the Koreas and other major global powers, this time it features a brand new story and both JUNG and KWAK are playing different characters. In fact, the stars have switched their nationalities this time around, with JUNG playing the president of South Korea, compared to his North Korean agent protagonist in the first film, and KWAK playing a North Korean commander, as opposed to his South Korean government official from Steel Rain (2017). 

President HAN of South Korea (JUNG Woo-sung) has been working toward brokering a peace treaty between North Korea and the USA. He meets with the leader of North Korea (YOO Yeon-seok) and the US president (Angus MACFAYDEN) for a summit, but at the same time, a North Korean commander (KWAK Do-won), who doesn’t believe in a peace accord, stages a coup back in Pyongyang. The commander’s forces then kidnap the world leaders gathered at the summit and hold them in a North Korean nuclear submarine.

[Helena]

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200713000600320
(News Focus) Pandemic-hit movie industry banks on summer rebound

By Chung Joo-won

 

SEOUL, July 14 (Yonhap) -- The new coronavirus pandemic has crippled every aspect of daily life as people increasingly opt to reduce contact, stay at home and shun visits to closed environments out of fear of contracting the virus.

 

But the movie industry, one of the sectors hit hardest by the COVID-19 outbreak, is pinning hopes on a rebound during the summer, albeit far slower and weaker than expected, as the economy and people begin to limp back to normality.

 

"July will be our most important pacemaker for a rebound in the second half," said Hwang Jae-hyun, spokesperson of South Korea's leading cinema chain CJ CGV.

 

"Since the last week of June, 1.6 million people watched the film #Alive safely, without being infected (with the virus). It sent our customers a message that theaters are a safe place, as long as they wear masks," he added.

 

Brokerage houses also chimed in by saying that the cinema industry bottomed out in the second quarter, and the July-August season is likely to be a crucial juncture for the cinema multiplexes' rebound, they said.

 

"The postponed large-scale South Korean films will be rolled out in the third quarter, further fueling a gradual recovery," said Shinyoung Securities analyst Shin Soo-yeon.

 

The still photo provided by NEW on July 11, 2020, shows a scene from the South Korean zombie movie "Peninsula," starring actors Kang Dong-won and Lee Jung-hyun. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

 

The still photo provided by Lotte Entertainment on July 2, 2020, shows a scene from the inter-Korean action flick "Steel Rain 2: Summit," starring actors Jung Woo-sung and Yoo Yeon-seok. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has dealt a heavy blow to the movie industry since the first local case in late January.

 

In the January-June period of the year, the box-office admissions tumbled 70.3 percent on-year to 32.4 million viewers, according to data from the state-run Korea Film Council (KOFIC). Sales revenue plummeted 70.6 percent to 273.8 billion won (US$228 million).

 

By month, admissions plunged 67 percent on-year in February and 87.5 percent in March. The figure further worsened in April, falling by a record 92.7 percent, and was followed by another 91.6 percent dip in May.

 

But the sector witnessed some budding signs of a rebound.

 

The June tally slightly improved, tumbling 83.1 percent on-year.

 

More young viewers also came to theaters, according to Gook Seong-ho, a spokesperson of the country's second-largest cinema multiplex chain Lotte Cinema.

 

The portion of teenage customers jumped from 1.4 percent in January to 5 percent in March-June, with those in their 20s surging 21.2 percent to 32.3 percent, Lotte Cinema data showed.

 

The June recovery was smaller than what the industry had hoped, but blockbusters set to be released during the summer season may provide a respite to the movie industry.

 

Homegrown blockbusters will lead local theaters in July, with Hollywood mega-scale projects also set to take the baton in August.

 

The film "Peninsula," a sequel to the South Korean zombie blockbuster "Train to Busan," is set to hit local theaters Wednesday. The 16 billion-won project originally required about 5.24 million views to break even, but brisk overseas presales reduced the burden to 2.5 million views.

 

"Steel Rain 2: Summit," a sequel to the inter-Korean action flick "Steel Rain," will launch on July 29. The 12.1 billion-won project breaks even at 4 million viewers.

 

The release date of the hard-boiled crime action "Deliver Us from Evil" was pushed back to Aug. 5 from the originally set mid-July. The 13.8 billion-won project breaks even at 3.5 million viewers. The film was originally rated R but later cut some brutal scenes to obtain a PG-15 rating to boost ticket sales

 

Most anticipated Hollywood mega-projects have postponed their July releases.

 

Warner Bros. Pictures' blockbuster "Tenet" moved its local release to Aug. 12. The US$200–225 million project pushed back the release from the originally set end-July due to coronavirus fears.

 

Walt Disney's live action adaptation film "Mulan" also delayed its release to Aug. 21. The previous local release for the US$200 million project was July 24.

 

"We are waiting with our fingers crossed for the U.S. virus toll to go down," a CGV official said.

 

"A fast recovery in the second half requires higher ticket sales in both local and foreign films," he added.

 

In 2019, foreign films attracted 111 million viewers, or about 49 percent of the local box-office admissions.

 

Sales from foreign films set a new record at 943.2 billion won, with nine of the top 20 annual box-office hits being Hollywood blockbusters.

 

At present, local multiplexes can only seat up to 70 percent of their capacities, as part of an eased social distancing scheme.

 

The brokerage house Daeshin Securities Co. estimated the annual box-office admissions to reach 110 million in 2020 and 190 million in 2021, down from a record high 226.7 million in 2019.

 

jwc@yna.co.kr
(END)

[Helena]

https://www.soompi.com/article/1413160wpp/jung-woo-sung-yoo-yeon-seok-kwak-do-won-and-more-are-powerful-leaders-in-imposing-posters-for-steel-rain-2
Jung Woo Sung, Yoo Yeon Seok, Kwak Do Won, And More Are Powerful Leaders In Imposing Posters For “Steel Rain 2”

by S. Nam | Jul 16, 2020

 

The sequel film to “Steel Rain” shared dramatic new posters starring the main leads!

 

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” is the sequel to 2017’s “Steel Rain,” which was about the aftermath of a coup in North Korea. “Steel Rain 2” is about a crisis that unfolds right before a war when the three leaders of the Koreas-United States summit are kidnapped in a North Korean nuclear-powered submarine.

 

The new posters feature the four leaders with submarines and their respective countries’ famous landmarks in the background.

 

South Korean president Han Kyung Jae (Jung Woo Sung) shares a cold and powerful gaze in his new poster. From the moment the summit takes place in order to plan a peace treaty to after his character becomes locked within the cramped captain’s cabin within the submarine, Jung Woo Sung will portray the complicated feelings of the Korean president who works nonstop to persuade those at the summit in order to prevent an imminent war. Jung Woo Sung will deliver a relatable and realistic South Korean perspective on the issues between the two Koreas as he portrays the many different aspects of President Han Kyung Jae who shoulders the fate of South Korea.

 

 

Kwak Do Won, who displays unrelenting and powerful charisma in his poster, plays the director of the North Korean guards behind the kidnapping attempt. His character is a hardliner who provides insight into the perspective of those who are against denuclearization and diplomatic relationships with the United States in order to create a peace regime. With North Korea’s tallest building Ryugyong Hotel in the background, Kwak Do Won’s character looks on with a sharp gaze, possessing the firm belief that he’s creating a revolution for his country and people rather than a coup d’état.

 

Spoiler

 

Yoo Yeon Seok will also break stereotypes with his portrayal of the North Korean chairman Jo Sun Sa who decides to carry out a summit for the first time despite the opposition from the hardliners. Throughout the film, Yoo Yeon Seok will also portray in detail his character’s inner turmoil as well as the humane aspects of the chairman.

 

Spoiler

 

Finally, Angus Macfadyen plays U.S. president Smoot, who has a charged expression that successfully conveys his character’s nature of saying only what he wants and inability to hide his anger at official events.

 

Spoiler

 

Furthermore, the poster of the Korean president shows the Ahn Chang Ho class submarine, the poster for the two North Korean leaders shows “Baekduho,” North Korea’s first nuclear-powered submarine within the film, and the poster of the U.S. president shows the Virginia class submarine, drawing curiosity about the submarine within Dokdo’s coastal waters in which the story will take place.

 

The film is slated to premiere on July 29. Check out the teaser here!

 

Source (1)

 

———————

 

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2020/07/21/entertainment/movies/Lee-Jinsoo-Yang-Wooseok-Kstory/20200721193700359.html
Kakao Page hopes 'Steel Rain' series can offer breakthrough for IP goals

July 21, 2020

 

Kakao Page CEO Lee Jin-soo, left, and director Yang Woo-seok at an online press event to discuss their crossover project on the "Steel Rain" series. [KAKAO PAGE]

Lee Jin-soo, CEO of the entertainment company Kakao Page, has big ambitions for the accumulated intellectual property (IP) his company possesses and believes that director Yang Woo-seok’s “Steel Rain” universe could offer the breakthrough for the success of the industry, he said at an online press event on Tuesday.

Lee and director Yang participated in the online press event that was live-streamed on YouTube to discuss the future of the local IP business.

Lee introduced Kakao Page as a “story entertainment company” that creates web novels, webtoons, drama series and films that he hopes one day will eclipse the prestige of the Marvel universe.

“I believe that the ‘Steel Rain’ universe is at the crossroads of our development,” Lee said. “What I felt as I watched over this project for a decade is that the theme, plot sequence and the quality of this scenario tops [all stories] in Korea.”

Director Yang’s "Steel Rain" universe began with the 2011 webtoon series “Steel Rain” which was published on Daum and Kakao Page. His 2018 film “Steel Rain” was based on the webtoon series “Steel Rain 2,” and his upcoming film “Steel Rain 2: Summit” is based on the third series “The Summit: Steel Rain 3.”   
 

The director noted how his IP universe can expand further. 
  
“The reason why I wrote ‘Steel Rain’ is because the Korean Peninsula failed to enter a peace regime after the Cold War era,” he explained. “While U.S.-China conflict is deepening even further, if the story expands, [I believe] east Asia could be the flash point of the setting of the Third World War, with the Korean Peninsula right in the middle of it.”

Lee also predicts that crossover projects like "Steel Rain" will become more frequent to the point where the meaning of "original" content won't matter anymore. In May, the company signed a partnership with film distribution company Merry Christmas to develop the IP of the upcoming sci-fi film "Space Sweepers" into other formats.

"For consumers, separating the original content from other deviating IP doesn't matter," Lee said. "What's important is the story."

As of now, including “Steel Rain,” Kakao Page possesses 7,000 original IPs, in which Lee hopes the company can expand globally to attract 70 million users daily.

“That’s about 1 percent of the entire global population,” Lee said. “That’s the [current] target that we’ve set for our company to reach one day. In order to do that, we hope to establish the proper ecosystem in which directors, production companies and writers launch, incubate, and develop their IPs. Globally, we are planning to expand our IP content in other languages as well. [Through these two goals] I firmly believe that we can show the power of ‘K-story’ — our own Marvel-like IP universe in the near future.”
 

 

BY LEE JAE-LIM   [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr] 

[Helena]

 

 

 

https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/interview.jsp?blbdComCd=601019&seq=367&mode=INTERVIEW_VIEW
JUNG Woo-sung of INNOCENT WITNESS

by SONG Soon-jin | Mar 04, 2019

“I’ve always had an affection for roles of everyday characters.”

 

JUNG Woo-sung, best known for action films like Asura : The City of Madness (2016), The King (2017), Steel Rain (2017) and ILLANG : THE WOLF BRIGADE (2018) is bringing back his mellow smile onto the big screen. That is all thanks to Innocent Witness, the latest from Punch (2011) and Thread of Lies (2014) director LEE Han. The film tells the heart-warming story of Sun-ho (JUNG), a former human rights advocate who set aside his convictions to work for a large law firm, as he meets the only witness to a murder, a teenage girl with autism named Ji-wu (KIM Hyang-gi). In the process, he learns the truth about the case, as well as the meaning of relationships.

 

 

It has been a while since you played an everyday character, a realistic office worker like in A Good Rain Knows (2009). Wasn’t it a bit awkward?
I would like to say that this is a stereotype based only on my external image. (laughs) The job of acting is all about showing, so having a certain image established can be a good thing, but I think that part of the essential process of growing as an actor is constantly shedding that image. JUNG Woo-sung the person comes from a low-income family, where he spent a normal childhood. Since I have experience at all levels of society, I enjoy as much the atmosphere of an obscure cart bar as that of a luxurious wine bar. I think I’m the kind of person who fits with all these atmospheres. In the public consciousness, there is that deeply ingrained image of me as someone who popped out overnight as an actor, and so they even expect me to conform to that image, but I’ve constantly strived to show a more mundane side. I’ve always had a thirst and an affection for roles of everyday characters.

 

Even so, watching you on the screen as Sun-ho, walking around in a shabby suit and carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders, gives quite a different impression. How did you want to portray your character?
The whole idea with this role was not to characterize him too much. Or, should I say, to show him in a state of lethargy? Although you can say he always pulls himself together, there are times when he lets his weariness show. Sun-ho is exactly in this state of mind. However, I portrayed him as someone who still faithfully observes everyday guidelines despite being exhausted in life, because he is a profoundly sincere person.

 

 

If we look at your recent filmography, besides action movies, you took part in low-budget films such as Remember You (2016, as producer and lead actor) and documentary Intention (2018, as narrator). What is the reason behind your decision to appear in Innocent Witness?
The reasons vary for each project I choose. For Remember You, after helping a friend conceptualize the film project, I got involved with the actual production. Actually, it would be more accurate to say that I shared my competence. Although it was a surprising choice in retrospect, it wasn’t in my plans to do the unexpected for the sake of it. Fundamentally, I think it’s important for me to be conscious of the value of my activity and to take each moment as they come. Planning something would be akin to interfering with the natural flow, the natural development. Rather than playing it safe by staying within the confines of mainstream commercial films, I strive to choose projects that are varied and worth the challenge, projects that are worth a try. That doesn’t necessarily mean it is the same reflection that brought me to Innocent Witness. There is some virtue to this scenario, and I felt confident that I could express something through the character of Sun-ho. And also, after several years playing characters who endure the worst to survive, in films dealing with heavy topics, I appreciated the comfort brought by Sun-ho in Innocent Witness.

 

What are the virtues you found in the scenario?
I was moved by the emotions Sun-ho shares with Ji-wu and the ones he shares with his father. Reading the script felt like therapy. It was totally different from the characters I played in the last few years. It was a scenario that would allow me be to reflect on the human mind and myself. After closing the script, I wanted to start shooting right away.

 

In the film, Sun-ho establishes relations with many characters, such as Ji-wu, of course, but also his invalid father and his friend who still works as a human rights lawyer. Which one of these touched you the most while filming?
All the bonds Sun-ho builds carry conviction and significance, but among them, the relationship with his father made me feel like it was a substitute for the one I didn’t have, the one I couldn’t have. (laughs) I like the scenes where the father approaches Sun-ho like an immature friend, and personally, filming these parts as Sun-ho, I could clearly feel my father, the warmth of parenthood.

 

Spoiler

 

You have been working constantly as an actor for 24 years, and you once said in an interview that you wished to become a veteran actor your younger peers could look up to. Who are your own role models?
I want to become a good person, yes, but I don’t see the necessity to be a role model. I once met AHN Sung-ki on the set for Musa-The Warrior (2001), but seeing him sitting in a laidback way was a bit uncomfortable. But after that, I had the chance to meet him at several places, and I started feeling better seeing him every time, just sitting quietly, by himself. Rather than wanting to become like him, my take away was that I realized there are such wonderful veteran actors.

 

You appear to be also stimulated by younger actors.
Everybody makes me nervous, and I make myself nervous too. It’s a positive kind of tension. There is always something to learn. I think that what we call “work experience” must be discarded after finishing a shooting. Whether you’re a newcomer or an actor with many years of experience, the moment you arrive on the set, you are nothing but a colleague, on an equal footing to other actors. Because each one of us has a different development process, we have different values. That’s why everyone makes me nervous. I’m wary of relying too much on my own experience or having too much confidence.

 

Spoiler

 

You will also have a busy schedule this year. You have another movie releasing soon, and I’ve heard that you’re currently working on your directing feature debut. 
First, there is Beasts that Cling to the Straws (translated title), in which I play against JEON Do-yeon. It’s a story that has many elements of black comedy, with a money bag as the protagonist, and shows the ridiculous lengths a group of people will go to catch a travelling bag of money. I play Tae-yang, a nerdy guy. As for my feature-length directing debut, I cannot give away too much detail on the plot, but what I can tell you is that it will be part of my process for understanding why I want to direct movies.

 

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https://www.koreanfilm.org/kfilm19.html#innocentwitness
[Review] Innocent Witness

 

 By Darcy Paquet

 

Soon-ho (Jung Woo-sung, Steel Rain) is a lawyer who, in the early part of his career, established his reputation working for a progressive legal association. After years of defending ordinary citizens against large corporations, he has decided to accept a well-paid job at a leading firm. His new boss admires his talent and skill, but is concerned that Soon-ho's squeaky-clean image will make his rich corporate clients uncomfortable. "You need to get some dirt on you," the boss suggests. Meanwhile outside of work, Soon-ho leads a quiet life with his elderly father, who has Parkinson's disease. The one close friend he has is a former colleague at the legal association who is raising a school-aged daughter. But now that Soon-ho has, in effect, gone over to "the other side," she no longer feels as comfortable with him, either.

 

Innocent Witness Soon-ho's first major case at his new job is one that the firm takes on for the sake of its image, rather than a big payoff. A housekeeper has been accused of murdering her employer, but she insists that she was simply unsuccessful in preventing a suicide. It seems like a straightforward case, but with one complication: the incident was witnessed by a school-aged autistic girl (Kim Hyang-gi, Along With the Gods) who lives in the same neighborhood. The girl, obviously traumatized by what she has seen, has given a statement to the police that supports the murder charge. But she refuses to meet with Soon-ho. Hoping to find some way to discredit her testimony, he starts coming to her school each day at the time she gets off, and walking home with her.

 

Innocent Witness could easily have been a forgettable, or even a very bad film. In recent years a number of Korean movies have depicted autistic characters, but not all of them have handled these depictions with sensitivity. In addition, the setup and overall plot structure of this film looks suspiciously predictable. In the hands of another director, it might have been a chore to sit through.

 

But one thing that director Lee Han has clearly demonstrated over the course of his career is that he is a gifted storyteller. Beginning with his breakout hit Punch (2011), he has specialized in works that are centered around well-drawn, three-dimensional characters while also gently introducing a contemporary social issue, like multiculturalism or (in the case of his well-reviewed low-budget drama Thread of Lies) teen suicide. His most recent work before Innocent Witness was the ambitious A Melody to Remember (winner of the Audience Award at the 18th Udine Far East Film Festival), which is based on a true story about a children's choir formed during the Korean War.

 

More than anything, Innocent Witness succeeds because of its memorable, well-drawn characters. Jung Woo-sung's Soon-ho comes across as much more than simply a lawyer torn between idealism and material success. He has a natural generosity of spirit that, in a very human way, can sometimes cross into overconfidence, leading him to overreach or say the wrong thing. His rival attorney in the case, played by Lee Kyu-hyung, is marked by a charismatic blend of determination, awkwardness and inexperience. And Kim Hyang-gi is convincing as the autistic Jiwoo, whose idiosyncratic means of expressing emotion masks a determined intelligence within. The end result is a film that is effortlessly comfortable to watch, respectful of the autistic character at its center, and steadily more emotional as it reaches its final act. The film's warmth, in this case, feels earned.

[Helena]

https://zapzee.net/2020/07/24/the-inside-stories-of-director-yang-woo-suks-upcoming-film-steel-rain-2-summit/
The Inside Stories of Director Yang Woo Suk’s Upcoming Film ‘Steel Rain 2: Summit’

by krishkim

 

Spoiler

Credit: Lotte Entertainment

Movie Steel Rain 2: Summit clearly shows the concerns of director Yang Woo Suk. He portrays a realistic picture of a possible crisis on the divided peninsula and the story surrounding it, throwing questions at the viewers.

Jung Woo Sung, Kwak Do Won, Yoo Yeon Seok, and director Yang Woo Suk attended a press conference held on the afternoon of July 23 to discuss their movie that draws a different view on the situation of the Korean peninsula from the prequel.

 

Spoiler

“When the Cold War ended more than 30 years ago, only the Korean peninsula could not escape the Cold War. I thought that it was my duty and destiny to simulate the path that the Korean peninsula could take,” said director Yang Woo Suk.

He added, “The overseas experts in politics and diplomacy predicted that the future for the Korean peninsula was one of these four: war, internal collapse of North Korea, peaceful denuclearization, and peace due to the nuclear balance caused by South Korea’s nuclear armament. Steel Rain series is based on our concerns about the Korean Peninsula issue and overseas experts’ arguments. If the prequel covered issued about war and South Korea’s nuclear armament, Summit talks about the internal collapse of North Korea and peaceful denuclearization.”

Jung Woo Sung, who plays the president of the Republic of Korea, shed tears while listening to the questions about national history.

“Twenty years after Phantom, The Submarine (1999), I got on the submarine again. It seems clear that time has passed, but the reality has not changed. I watched the movie for the second time, and I feel so emotional that my head is blank,” he said as he burst into tears.

After being silent for a while, he added, “After the movie was over, I thought, ‘Wasn’t our people unfortunate enough?’ I think we should quickly end our people’s misfortune and go on a new path of peace. As a citizen, I heartily wish for that path.”

 

Spoiler

Kwak Do Won, who plays the role of North Korea’s Supreme Guard Command Chief, said, “I was curious about what the audience would talk about as I read the script and thought of making it into a movie and show it to the world. I know there are lots of talks ahead of the release, but I wonder what they will think after watching the movie.”
 

Spoiler

Yoo Yeon Seok, who played the North Korean leader, said, “Those who have watched the recent drama (Hospital Playlist) must feel awkward or new, but watching the movie made me feel new, too. I enjoyed watching myself acting in the North Korean dialect. I came up with my own interpretation. I didn’t want to impersonate a real person.”

Steel Rain 2: Summit depicts a crisis near the brink of war after three leaders are kidnapped and held in a North Korean nuclear submarine when the coup d’état is carried out during a summit between the two Koreas and the United States.

Source (1, 2)

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https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200724004900315
(Movie Review) 'Steel Rain 2: Summit': Cinematic simulation of peaceful Korean Peninsula

By Kim Boram

SEOUL, July 24 (Yonhap) -- About a year ago, leaders of the two Koreas and the United States had an unprecedented brief meeting at the Demilitarized Zone, coming after two Washington-Pyongyang summits. Expectations were high that a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula, which has been technically in a state of war for nearly seven decades, was just around the corner.

But a few months later, hopes were shattered as the U.S.-North Korea nuclear negotiations reached a deadlock as dozens of previous peace talks ended in vain.

 

Spoiler

A photo of a scene from "Steel Rain 2: Summit" provided by NEW (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

The action adventure film "Steel Rain 2: Summit" dramatizes a rare tripartite summit on North Korean soil to officially end the 1950-53 Korean War and clinch a peace treaty, after many twists and turns behind the scenes.

South Korean President Han Kyeong-jae, played by Jung Woo-sung, participates in the historic meeting with U.S. President Smoot (Angus Macfadyen), whose first name isn't given, and North Korean leader Cho Son-sa (Yoo Yeon-seok). His job is simply to mediate the two obstinate leaders, who don't want to be outdone by the other.

On the verge of the breakdown of the peace talks, a North Korean general (Kwak Do-won), who strongly opposes Cho's appeasement policy, stages a coup and kidnaps the three leaders in a cabin of a nuclear-powered submarine.

In the small compartment, the second round of the tripartite summit begins. Smoot and Cho blame each other on the current touch-and-go situation on the Korean Peninsula, while the South Korean president tries to prevent the situation from getting out of hand.

At the same time, the kidnapping of the leaders of three nations disrupts the power balance in East Asia, and the U.S., China, Japan and the two Koreas bring their strategic weapons to the East Sea.

 

Spoiler

A photo of a scene from "Steel Rain 2: Summit" provided by NEW (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Like its prequel "Steel Rain" (2017), "Steel Rain 2" starts with a military coup in North Korea, which intensifies the risk of an all-out war on the Korean Peninsula.

But the 2020 film expands its horizon to the regional level, depicting East Asian geopolitics among regional superpowers in a realistic way through the South-North-U.S. summit talks.

President Han, invited to the three-party summit meeting for a peace treaty, knows that he has a limited role at the event as South Korea is not a signing party of the 1953 Armistice Agreement.

The movie pictures Han's character as a clearheaded statesman who seeks ways to prevent a hot war during the situation strained to the point where any slight incident could touch off open hostilities.

Jung shows soft and flexible charisma as an arbitrator or a balancer in the new movie, rarely resembling his role of a North Korean agent in "Steel Rain."

The onscreen chemistry of Macfadyen and Yoo also creates natural humor and wit that helps the audience understand the difficult and decadeslong North Korean issues.

In addition, the underwater battle scenes involving submarines from North Korea and Japan is the highlight of the latter part of the film that makes people sit on the edge of their seats.

Director Yang Woo-suk, who worked on the original web comic trilogy "Steel Rain" that began in 2011, said he wants to simulate possible futures of the Korean Peninsula, the world's last remaining Cold War divide, in the "Steel Rain" series and show that the peace regime is what the two Koreas have to achieve in the end.

"I want to call "Steel Rain 2" a complementary sequel to its predecessor as the two films are cinematic simulations of the Korean future," he said in a press conference on Thursday. "But we can't create peace of our own freewill, because we didn't win it by ourselves. I want to present that reality in the film."

"Steel Rain 2" will hit local screens Wednesday.

brk@yna.co.kr
(END)
 

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http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200722000732
Director says ‘Steel Rain’ universe is different from DC, Marvel comics

Kakao Page bets on ‘Steel Rain’ series kick-starting intellectual properties in Korea

By Choi Ji-won | Jul 23, 2020

 

Spoiler

Film director and webcomic writer Yang Woo-suk speaks during a press conference conducted in Seoul on Tuesday. (Kakao Page)

With three webcomic series and two films of the “Steel Rain” series about the Korean Peninsula, director-writer Yang Woo-suk has now built his own universe about what he calls “simulations” of situations and solutions to the ongoing inter-Korean conflict.

“It’s a story that must be told and must be called upon by someone. I’m not trying to send a message, but giving suggestions of simulations and throwing questions through them. And the audience will make their own decisions from them,” the director said during a press conference coordinated by Kakao’s webtoon platform Kakao Page on Wednesday. Kakao Page CEO Lee Jin-soo also was in attendance. 

Yang’s upcoming film “Steel Rain 2: Summit” is based on his third webcomic series “Steel Rain 3,” which was published via Daum Webtoon between September 2019 and early July this year. 

Starting with the first webcomic series in 2011, Yang has been constantly expanding his universe about the division of the Korean Peninsula. The second set of the comics, adapted into a film in 2017, drew on the possible collapse of North Korea following a coup. The upcoming sequel is set to show an emergency summit of the leaders of the two Koreas and the US aboard a submarine.

An action-packed blockbuster comic-movie crossover, Yang’s “Steel Rain” has often been compared to superhero movies from DC and Marvel, but the Korean director said the comparison does not fly.

“The Korean Peninsula remains within the Cold War system while international society is changing fast. Whereas news content spotlight the phenomenal aspects of the situation, I believe comics and novels can provide a more fundamental and comprehensive view. The inter-Korean conflict is not a problem that can be solved between the two Koreas, and hence the story must expand beyond the peninsula,” Yang said.

He went on, “It’s a sad reality, but the ‘Steel Rain’ series has its roots in the divided state (of the peninsula). In most creations dealing with the subject, the main characters die. They face a big and unexplainable wall, are discouraged, and in some worst cases, they commit suicide. This is because the division did not result from our own choices. It’s not something that we (Koreans) can solve by ourselves. Even one of the characters in ‘Steel Rain 1’ died.”

Poster for webcomic series “Steel Rain 3” (Kakao Page)

“Steel Rain” is part of Kakao Page’s “Super Webtoon Project,” which selects popular webtoons and develops them into intellectual properties for diverse platforms -- including movies, TV dramas, online games and animations. The upcoming movie “Space Sweepers,” starring Song Joong-ki, and drama series “Itaewon Class,” which aired in February on JTBC, are among the first selected intellectual properties. 

Kakao Page CEO Lee, who said he has been working with Yang for a decade, said super IPs like the “Steel Rain” project are exactly what the company is made for and what it is aiming to assemble, support and develop.

“Securing more IP businesses is everything to Kakao Page. We started off as a small platform service, and what saved this crippling company was a web novel, and from that experience we learned how the platform must combine with the IPs and how far we could extend them.”

Kakao Page currently holds around 7,000 original IP titles and its goal now is to reach 70 million daily active users, or about 1 percent of the global population, according to Lee.

IP business in Korea differs from that of the US comics giants, due to the different environments in which the content is produced and consumed, he explained. 

“The Marvel universe had been built upon stories that were accumulated over a long time, whereas Kakao Page can make hundreds and thousands of fandoms in the global market over a very short period. The market is much more fragmented and the audience preferences much more diverse,” Lee said, saying “Steel Rain” could appeal to the global audience thanks to its quintessential “Korean” story.

Director Yang hinted at further expansions to his story, stating the next follow-ups may be about families.

“While Korean society has witnessed changes in the forms of families, we have not given proper thought to it. Who will raise the children, what meaning do the children have to the adults and the adults to the children. I want to talk about such stories,” Yang said.

“Steel Rain 2: Summit,” featuring Jung Woo-sung, Kwak Do-won and Yoo Yeon-suk, hits local theaters on July 29.

 

By Choi Ji-won (jwc@heraldcorp.com)

 

[Helena]

Cine21

 

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https://www.soompi.com/article/1414833wpp/jung-woo-sung-in-talks-for-best-friend-lee-jung-jaes-directorial-debut
Jung Woo Sung In Talks For Best Friend Lee Jung Jae’s Directorial Debut

by S. Cho | Jul 24, 2020

Best friends Jung Woo Sung and Lee Jung Jae may be reuniting on-screen for the first time in 21 years!

On July 24, film company Megabox Plus M revealed that Lee Jung Jae was confirmed to both star in and make his directorial debut with “Hunt” (working title).

“Hunt” is an action film about ace National Intelligence Service (NIS) agents Park Pyung Ho and Kim Jung Do who come to face a massive discovery while chasing after the person in charge of North Korean spies.

Lee Jung Jae will appear as Park Pyung Ho, who is part of the NIS overseas team. This is his first project as a director, and it’s said that he has worked on the script for four years in order to perfect it.

Jung Woo Sung has received an offer to play Kim Jung Do and is currently reviewing the role. If he accepts, it will be first time in 21 years that he works with Lee Jung Jae after the two starred in the 1999 film “City of the Rising Sun.”

While viewers are anticipating the potential on-screen reunion of the two best friends, the actors will soon go head-to-head at the box office with their upcoming films. Jung Woo Sung stars as South Korea’s president Han Kyung Jae in “Steel Rain 2: Summit” which premieres on July 29 while Lee Jung Jae’s film “Deliver Us From Evil” hits theaters on August 5.

Watch Jung Woo Sung in the film “The King” below:

WATCH NOW

Also check out Lee Jung Jae in “Assassination” here!

WATCH NOW

Source (1)

 

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https://zapzee.net/2020/07/24/beasts-clawing-at-straws-wins-the-special-mention-at-the-22nd-udine-far-east-film-festival/
‘Beasts Clawing At Straws’ Wins the Special Mention at the 22nd Udine Far East Film Festival

 

by krishkim
 

Credit: Megabox Plus M

The movie Beasts Clawing At Straws won the Special Mention at the 22nd Udine Far East Film Festival.

At the 22nd Udine Far East Film Festival, which was held online from June 26 to July 4, Beasts Clawing At Straws won the Special Mention.

Sabrina Baracetti, executive chairman of the Udine Far East Film Festival, said, “Director Kim Yong Hoon’s dazzling debut film Beasts Clawing At Straws is an action thriller full of colorful casts, and a characteristic and unpredictable film. This movie is provocative in terms of its ability to attract and captivate audiences in both blatant and subtle ways.”

On top of that, judges chose the film’s visceral energy and consistent style as the reason for selection, praising the movie.

Beasts Clawing At Straws was released in France on July 8 and ranked sixth in the box office in the first week of its release.

Meanwhile, Beasts Clawing At Straws, starring Jeon Do Yeon, Jeong Woo Sung, Bae Sung Woo, Yoon Yeo Jung, Jeong Man Shik, and Jin Kyung, is a dark crime drama that tells the story of lowlifes slowly gathering around the money bag with different desires.

Source (1)

[Helena]

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2020/07/689_293450.html
[INTERVIEW] 'Steel Rain 2: Summit' offers cinematic imagining of 2 Koreas' future

By Kwak Yeon-soo | 2020-07-27

Jung Woo-sung, left, and Shin Jung-geun in a scene from the film "Steel Rain 2: Summit" / Courtesy of Lotte Entertainment

 

 

Director Yang Woo-suk said he wanted to explore possible futures for the Korean Peninsula, the Cold War's last divide, through his new action blockbuster "Steel Rain 2: Summit."

"In recent years, think tanks and security analysts have presented four possible scenarios on the future of North Korea ― going to war with South Korea, signing a peace treaty to end the Korean War, a military coup or natural calamities," Yang said during a recent interview with The Korea Times.

"I personally believe the North Korean regime is more likely to collapse due to a military-led coup rather than nuclear weapons. However, South Korea is not really prepared for a crisis within North Korea ― a coup and a civil war among warring factions. Therefore, I wanted to offer a cinematic simulation on the future of the two Koreas."

A sequel to "Steel Rain" (2017), "Steel Rain 2" dramatizes a tripartite summit among South Korea, the U.S. and North Korea to officially end the 1950-53 Korean War and sign a peace treaty.

The film follows South Korean President Han Kyung-jae, played by Jung Woo-sung, taking part in the historic summit with U.S. President Smoot (Angus Macfayden) and North Korean leader Cho Seon-sa (Yoo Yeon-seok). 

Amid a summit-driven peace mood, a North Korean general (Kwak Do-won), who strongly opposes Cho's appeasement policy, launches a military coup and abducts the three leaders in a nuclear-powered submarine.

 

Spoiler

Director Yang Woo-suk poses after an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of Lotte Entertainment

 

 

Like the first "Steel Rain," "Steel Rain 2" starts with a military coup in North Korea, which intensifies the risk of an all-out war on the Korean Peninsula. However, the movie plot and characters are completely different from the earlier film, according to Yang.

"Compared with the 2017 film that shows the outbreak of the war between the two Koreas, the upcoming film shows a more realistic approach to the situation on the Korean Peninsula that involves more than just the two countries," he said. 

"It also shows that we can't create peace from our free will because we didn't win it ourselves. Even today, the fate and stability of the Korean Peninsula are determined by other countries. I wanted to present that reality in the film."

In "Steel Rain 2," the abduction of the three leaders disrupts the balance of power in Northeast Asia. South Korean President Han participates in the three-party talk as a mediator, but his role is limited because the country was not a signing party of the 1953 Armistice Agreement.

Director Yang explained that the story is divided into three parts. It begins with the historical background and international politics behind the conflict, and later includes some black comedy elements. As the film nears its end, the battle scenes between submarines and missile attacks taking place deep underwater showcases the fast-paced action.

"I was worried that long lines of dialogue in the beginning could bore audiences, but they were necessary in order to explain the complexity of inter-Korean relations," Yang said.

"The power struggle inside the submarine metaphorically illustrates the inter-Korean conflict. In addition, the North Korean leader's cigarette stands for nuclear weapons while the U.S. president's fart symbolizes U.N. sanctions," he laughed.

Director Yang hinted that a future sequel may be about families. 

"While Korean society has witnessed dramatic changes in the forms of families, we have not given proper thought to it. The number of single-person households and children who live with single-parent families is growing. I want to address this issue with a warm, comic touch," he said.

"Steel Rain 2: Summit" will hit local theaters July 29.

 

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http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200726000128
[Herald Review] Underwater summit holds key to future of two Koreas in ‘Steel Rain 2’

By Choi Ji-won | Jul 26, 2020

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” (Lotte Entertainment)

 

How would the leaders of South Korea, North Korea and the United States prevent a war from happening on the Korean Peninsula on a stealth submarine some 300 meters under the water?

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” takes this highly unlikely premise and looks at the ongoing inter-Korean conflict. The film kicks off by showing heightening military tensions between the US and China and the impending complications for the surrounding nations -- the two Koreas and Japan. 

While tension hangs over the Korean Peninsula, US President Smoot, played by Scottish actor Angus Macfadyen, and North Korean leader Cho Seon-sa, played by Yoo Yeon-suk, hold a summit in the port city of Wonsan in North Korea. South Korean President Han Kyung-jae, portrayed by Jung Woo-sung, accompanies them as a mediator.

As the summit proceeds, North Korean hard-liners opposed to a peace treaty attempt a military coup and kidnap the three leaders, holding them on a submarine. With the leaders locked up, the submarine becomes divided, as the security chief -- played by Kwak Do-won -- tries to seize power by assassinating the North Korean leader, while the submarine’s commander -- Jang Ki-suk, played by Shin Jung-geun -- struggles to control the situation and save the leaders.

 

Spoiler

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” (Lotte Entertainment)

 

Although the upcoming movie is a sequel to the 2017 film, the plot is completely different. If the first film was a fantasy envisioning the hermit kingdom’s collapse through a coup and the outbreak of military conflict between the two Koreas, the follow-up shows a more realistic approach to the situation on the Korean Peninsula -- which, fundamentally speaking, involves more than just the two countries.

“While ‘Steel Rain’ shows the outbreak of war between the North and South, ‘Steel Rain 2’ portrays the harsh reality that, although the race toward a peace regime on the peninsula will not be easy, we must soldier on with it,” director Yang Woo-suk said Thursday during a premiere event.

The director, also the author of the film’s original online comics, said he doesn’t intend to force any message on the audience, but only offer simulations to the wider public who, most of the time, live oblivious to the divided state of the peninsula. 

“Simulations can help people imagine about a likely situation, and as a film director, I feel like it is my responsibility to provide simulations of viable paths for South Korea,” Yang said.

While the first half of the film is used to educate the audience on the background underlying the international politics and the history behind the conflicts, the film sees its climax in battle scenes that take place inside and outside the submarine. Whereas the toss-and-turn of the power struggle inside the cramped vessel metaphorically illustrates the ongoing inter-Korean conflict, the chase between submarines and missile attacks taking place deep underwater showcases the fast-paced action. 

 

Spoiler

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” (Lotte Entertainment)

 

However, weak character development turns this action-packed blockbuster into a fantasy-like drama. With the US and South Korean presidents on two extreme ends -- Smoot as a rash and ignorant figure and Han as a simple yet powerless mediator -- the characters seem far too two-dimensional to be relatable.

As the director had intended, the upcoming film shows one scenario for the Korean Peninsula’s future, but how compelling it will be to the audience -- especially Koreans -- is yet to be judged.

The film is set to open Wednesday.

 

 

By Choi Ji-won (jwc@heraldcorp.com)

 

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http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2020/07/28/2020072801476.html
Upcoming Action Flick Offers More Hope for Film Industry

July 28, 2020

An upcoming action drama is raising expectations that it will carry on the recent momentum of a recovery in the film industry hit hard by the coronavirus epidemic.

The sequel to the 2017 flick "Steel Rain" is leading the box office in advance ticket sales, with 44,092 tickets sold as of Monday morning, according to the Korean Film Council.

That accounted for 48.7 percent of all advance sales, beating zombie flick "Peninsula," which has proven to be a boost for cinemas amid the epidemic by drawing more than 2.5 million viewers, the break-even point, in two weeks since its release on July 15.

"Steel Rain 2: Summit" dramatizes the abduction of the leaders of South Korea, North Korea and the U.S. in a North Korean nuclear-powered submarine after a coup by a North Korean general while a trilateral summit is being held.

The film, which stars Jung Woo-sung and Yoo Yeon-seok, hits theaters here on Wednesday.

[Helena]

http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20200728000638
[Herald Interview] Jung Woo-sung discusses presidential role in ‘Steel Rain 2: Summit’

By Choi Ji-won | Jul 28, 2020

Actor Jung Woo-sung (Lotte Entertainment)

In sequels we often see the original cast reappear, taking up the same roles and continuing with the next chapter of the story. In other cases, a new cast may be chosen to show a different side of the same universe. 

But rarely do the same actors reappear as completely new characters. This was the case for veteran actor Jung Woo-sung, who plays a fictitious South Korean president in the upcoming action flick “Steel Rain 2: Summit,” having portrayed a North Korean special agent in its 2017 predecessor.

“Both films have the Korean Peninsula as their ‘main character.’ That’s how the two films could become a series, and I thought it was a very creative approach. This way, even if there comes a threequel to the set and I or Kwak Do-won (who also appeared in both films) do not star in it, the series will still be able to continue its story,” Jung said during a joint interview with the local media held in Seoul on Monday. 

“The extension of characters, and their correlation that continues into the sequel was interesting,” Jung said. “For example, both characters in the first film were named ‘Chul-woo.’ This signifies that even if the two characters swap roles, the situation will not be much different. They are just two people who are a part of the divided peninsula, and we have to look at the film from that point of view.”

Likewise, Jung and Kwak have switched sides in the upcoming movie. Where Jung takes up the role of South Korean President Han Kyung-jae in the sequel, Kwak, who played a South Korean government official in the original, appears as the North Korean regime’s chief of security. 

As director Yang Woo-suk explained previously, his intention was to show that even if the actors changed sides, the situation on the peninsula would not change: “The problem is not something the two Koreas can solve as it is not something we have started ourselves.”

 

Spoiler

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” (Lotte Entertainment)

Jung, who has been acting for some 26 years, seemed exceptionally calm and cautious in choosing his words during the promotional events leading up to the film’s release. During the press conference following the film’s premiere last Thursday, Jung even came close to tears when asked his thoughts about the film.

“I was emotionally immersed with President Han. Complicated feelings all came rushing through as I thought about our reality, the past and the history of the Koreans, including those who were victimized. Koreans have seen enough misfortune, but for some reason, this misfortune has naturally become a part of our lives,” said Jung.

Jung said he did not reference President Moon Jae-in or any former South Korean president in constructing his character, but rather focused on the emotions that arose inside of him.

“President Han has a strong will for peace, and I imagined that the fundamental value of such a character would lie in sympathy for his people, living in this unfortunate land,” Jung said.

The actor said the entertaining methods that Yang, the director, employs in conveying his serious message were another reason he chose to star in the sequel.

 

Spoiler

“Steel Rain 2: Summit” (Lotte Entertainment)

 

“The scenes inside the captain’s cabin with the three leaders locked up -- it felt like a skit satirizing the situation, like an episode from a comic show like ‘Saturday Night Live.’ It was a new challenge as an actor,” Jung said.

In reading the script for the first time, while he could clearly imagine what the submarine action scene -- with gunfire exchanged and explosions taking place in and out of the vessel -- would be like just from the written lines, he also became curious about how it would be realized on the screen.

Faced with a blockbuster action film that asks serious questions about the divided peninsula, some people may doubt the authenticity of the message the film is trying to send. However, the 47-year-old actor said the film is, in essence, an entertainment flick that can perhaps attune our thoughts to the reality that we have been oblivious to -- and, at least for that moment, make us think about what we can do as a member of society.

“I hope the audience can enjoy the film, but at the same time take something for themselves to think about. This may be the submarine action for some people, or the characters for others, and for some people, it may be the question the film throws.”

"Steel Rain 2: Summit" hits local theaters on Wednesday.

By Choi Ji-won (jwc@heraldcorp.com)

 

————

 

https://zapzee.net/2020/07/29/jung-woo-sung-talks-about-his-upcoming-movie-steel-rain-2-summit-and-his-friendship-with-actor-lee-jung-jae/
Jung Woo Sung Talks About His Upcoming Movie ‘Steel Rain 2: Summit’ and His Friendship with Actor Lee Jung Jae

by krishkim

 

Some people often look at Jung Woo Sung, who has expressed his belief in various social issues, with a biased perspectives. The actor is well aware of that and worried that his images could cause trouble for the movie. Jung Woo Sung, who starred in Steel Rain, which dealt with politically sensitive issues, will now greet the audience once again with the sequel Steel Rain 2: Summit.

 

Spoiler

Credit: Lotte Entertainment

During a media interview on July 27, Jung Woo Sung said, “I enjoyed the movie. Especially, it’s satisfying to see Yang Woo Suk grow as a director.”

When asked about the charm of the movie, he answered, “Many series works are about superheroes, but Steel Rain is the first project that produced the sequel with different material and genre. Became the Korean Peninsula is the star of the series, I thought it was a new plan.”

In the movie, Jung Woo Sung played the president of South Korea and expressed his humane side with his eyes.

“I thought that the views and interests surrounding the Korean Peninsula would draw sympathy. The movie speaks its intention directly, and some people see Jung Woo Sung as an actor with political images. So I got worried and told the director that if I star, the movie would have to walk on a rough patch. I said that there will be people who see Han Kyung Jae with political measures. But the director told me that it has to be Jung Woo Sung (laugh).”

 

Spoiler

Credit: Lotte Entertainment

 

 

The first and the latter half of the movie shows a different color. If the first half explains the information about the countries surrounding the Korean Peninsula, the latter half catches the viewers with submarine action scenes. In particular, it is interesting to see the three leaders of the two Koreas and the US locked up in a small space and “bicker” with each other. To which, Jung Woo Sung pointed out, “It’s a scene where the three of us reveal each position in an extreme situation, and the director comically portrayed it. I think it was a smart choice.”

The movie delivers a heavy message through the mouth of President Han Kyung Jae. The actor added, “It’s not about forcing a question to someone or suggesting a particular direction. I think we will see the direction when we think it’s our job.”

Credit: Lotte Entertainment, CJ Entertainment

Now, Jung Woo Sung will face his best friend Lee Jung Jae (who starred in Deliver Us from Evil) in the box office. “It’s a happy time for us to face each other in the theater. I think that’s enough. Our movies tell different stories and different genres. I hope we both receive enough love and support from the audiences.“

As for the secret behind his 21-year-long friendship with Lee Jung Jae, he said, “We don’t emphasize each other. We tend to just look and admit (each other). We stay quiet because we don’t know how what the results will be.“

 

https://youtu.be/a3EdpRt3ZE0

 

Source (1, 2)

[Helena]

https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/2020/07/29/entertainment/movies/Jung-Woosung-South-Korean-president-Steel-Rain-2-Summit/20200729161300515.html
Jung Woo-sung is not afraid to talk politics

July 29, 2020

 

Spoiler

Actor Jung Woo-sung [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

  
Fans of director Yang Woo-seok’s “Steel Rain” universe might have been surprised to hear that actor Jung Woo-sung, who portrayed a wary elite North Korean soldier in the first installment of the series, “Steel Rain” (2017), will this time be swapping roles with actor Kwak Do-won to portray Han Kyung-jae, a composed South Korean president in “Steel Rain 2: Summit.”

While this may not seem like much of a challenge for an actor who's used to changing colors like a chameleon, what made Jung take pause was the potential political controversy the film could stir, especially when he was already branded as a celebrity who openly speaks his mind about sensitive social issues, such as his support for the Yemeni refugees coming to Jeju Island.

“Steel Rain” (2017) was more or less focused on the two Koreans, while in “Steel Rain 2” a third player is added — the United States. The leaders of the three countries are kidnapped in a nuclear submarine that has the potential of starting another World War.

“Although the story itself is fiction and the film genre is very original, the basis on which the film lies is derived from real global politics,” Jung said in a press interview at a café in Samcheong-dong, central Seoul on Monday. “Even the first installment had that [tone], and with this film having more possibility to fuel politically conflicting debates, I did ask what intention [director Yang had] in casting me for this role.

“But I think director Yang liked my [facial] expressions,” the actor continued. “In the silence that the president has to keep [in order to be the mediator between the U.S. and the North], [the audience] can glimpse into his feelings through his expressions."

The following are edited excerpts of the interview.

 

Q:  Did you have any specific role model that you based your character on?

A:  I didn't have a specific person in mind. There can’t be a narrative about a specific person—rather, I tried to portray a leader doing his best to guide a divided country toward [an era of] unification and peace. In a way, I expanded that strong determination [that the leaders had] about moving toward peace.

Q:  The other two leaders seem to have certain characteristics of the current leaders.

 

A:  Some of [the expressions] may remind people [of the real leaders] but I believe that director Yang had no political intentions. They represented the humanistic side of the leaders, especially when the three were trapped inside the submarine cabin. Although they still represent their country’s national interests, when they’re driven into a corner, their humanistic, even animalistic instincts come out. [Even in that kind of situation] Han has to restrain himself, and President Smoot, who is similar to President Trump, has this overbrimming confidence about being America first, [which can explain] his lack of manners or formality.

 

Spoiler

From left, the U.S. president (played by Angus Macfadyen), South Korean president (played by Jung Woo-sung) and North Korean leader (played by Yoo Yeon-seok) have the chance to openly talk about their different viewpoints, while trapped in a cabin of a nuclear submarine. [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

 

 

Q:  What was it like playing the mediator?

 

A: It was lethargic. And frustrating and annoying. But that is what our position is [in reality is as well]. Especially regarding the North-South relationship, the reality is that we can’t strongly voice our opinions.  
I think that narrow cabin mirrored the situation that the Korean Peninsula is in. That suffocating setting [both physically and psychologically] could be felt through the screen and reached the audience. So that was a very vital setting in our film.

 

Q:  What do you think are the qualities that an ideal leader should have?

 

A:  Regardless of the term period, I believe that all public officials should think about how aware they are of their civic duty. Since we’re all only human, we can fall into the delusional trap of having our private interests influence and affect our decisions. [Officials] should be cautious about that. 
And especially regarding the problems related to the peninsula, [the leader needs] patience. We [North and South Korea] had spent the longest of time in conflict, and to come to an agreement, we might need just as long. [The leader needs] to be certain about his set of goals and needs the patience to achieve them. Instead of being hasty, they need to be able to calmly persuade [people to see their side]. It may look frustrating from the outside, but the leader needs that assertiveness to make a start [on our way to peace] which will affect the future generations for the next century. 

 

Spoiler

Actor Jung Woo-sung portrays South Korean president Han Kyung-jae, a determined leader set on getting North Korea and the United States to sign a peace treaty to ultimately guide the Korean Peninsula to a peaceful regime. [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

 

 

Q: What do you think is our way to peace?

 

A: North Korea is living in a unique regime. The people in the North can’t voice their thoughts as strongly as those in the South can. Since we are in the position to gather more opinions and suggestions, we need a more active discussion among citizens about what we can actually do and what choices we can make to head in the direction of peace. The discussion itself, I think is important. We’re not in any position to determine the outcome. If we can have the dialogue, time will pass, the next generation will change, and that generation will be making another kind of choice. The start of that conversation is what’s important [for now].

 

Actor Jung Woo-sung [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

 

 

Q:  Did you feel any pressure about how the film might be seen in the political sense? If so, did it make you hesitate in taking on the role?

A:  It’s true that I did [feel pressure]. Director Yang already faced stigma over his film “The Attorney” (2013). [But] I think [only] through films we can try out various forms of stories and we need those efforts. If you ask me if I think that our film enforces those politically biased [ideologies], then I would say no. But I did worry that some might see it that way. 
But I decided to take on the role because of the film’s value—what questions can we ask society, issues that we needed to spark for the future generation — that’s what drew me [to the role].

 

Q: Do you see yourself as a celebrity who doesn’t hesitate to speak about your political viewpoints?  

 

A:  I don’t exactly get what kind of political expressions that I did speak of. I am aware that there are people who think of me as someone who speaks my mind about certain social issues. But our life itself is political. The two are intricately connected to one another. We continue to feel how our lives are shaken and what we have to put up with when a politician, elected by our own hands, messes up.  
All of us have the right and the responsibility to speak our minds about the inconveniences that we feel in our lives. If that’s politics, then it is what it is. I think all of us, in each of our positions, have to continuously voice our political opinions, because they're directly related to our lives.[Saying that] politics should be done by politicians should be doubted, because they may be purposefully trying to distance the people from politics so they can do whatever they want without interference.  

 

Actor Jung Woo-sung [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

 

Q: When you debuted as an actor in 1994, you emanated an aura of vigorous, dashing youth. But now I believe there’s more to you just than that. There seems to be weighted responsibility, credibility and even something composed about the way you express yourself. Was there a particular motivation or inspiration behind this gradual change?

 

A: I think I tried not to be trapped within myself. I didn’t stay within the image that the audience created for me. If a character I portrayed got good reviews, I didn’t linger on them or become trapped within that [success]—I thought [life is] about building the person I am until I die. The roles and scripts that come to me aren't something to take for granted. I should always be thankful for them. And if I receive love from the world, then I naturally think I need to pay just as much attention to the world. So that’s what I am trying to do, and that’s how I believe I’m finding myself.

 

Actor Jung Woo-sung [LOTTE ENTERTAINMENT]

 

  
Q:  How is your debut film “Guardian” (tentatively titled) as a director coming along? There’s a rumor that it’s going to be good.

A:  I spread that rumor (laughs). But it still remains to be seen if people see it the same way.  
A: Filmmaking, [from my experience] is a profession where you cling to perfection. No matter how meticulously I plan, I realized that I can’t control everything that happens on the set, because conditions change all the time. I need to decide how I’m going to do the best with what’s given before me. I kept focusing on what kind of film I was creating on the set. Right now I’m working on the latter half of the film.

 

 

BY LEE JAE-LIM   [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]

[Helena]

https://zapzee.net/2020/07/30/steel-rain-2-summit-beats-out-peninsula-to-top-the-box-office-in-korea/
‘Steel Rain 2: Summit’ Beats Out ‘Peninsula’ to Top the Box Office in Korea

by krishkim

 

Credit: Lotte Entertainment

Steel Rain 2: Summit started out as No.1 in the box office on its first day of release.

According to the Korean Film Council, Steel Rain 2: Summit, which was released on July 29, attracted 222,188 viewers.

Steel Rain 2: Summit depicts a crisis near the brink of war after three leaders are kidnapped and held in a North Korean nuclear submarine when the coup d’état is carried out during a summit between the two Koreas and the United States. It is also the sequel to Steel Rain, which drew a total of 4.45 million viewers.

Peninsula, which descended to the second place, attracted 73,884 viewers. The cumulative audience of the movie now stands at 3,078,416 viewers.

Source (1)
 

—————

 

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/art/2020/07/689_293646.html
Korean cinema, politics entangled in 'cozy relations'

Outpouring of 'left-leaning films' under Moon government 

By Kwak Yeon-soo | 2020-07-30

In South Korea, cinema and politics are inseparable. 

During the rule of the conservative governments, a flurry of films featuring South Korea's dramatic rise from the ashes of the Korean War to become one of Asia's most vibrant economies and productions dealing with the idea of nationalism were released.

"Roaring Currents" (2014), "Ode to My Father" (2014) and "Operation Chromite" (2016) are three of the biggest box office hits that were released when conservative President Park Geun-hye was in power.

These patriotism-oriented films were replaced with a flurry of retro flicks dignifying democracy fighters in the 1980s after Park was ousted from the presidency and human rights lawyer-turned-President Moon Jae-in took power in 2017.

These so-called "leftist films" demonize the previous conservative governments ― particularly the military governments in the 1970s and 1980s. Human rights abuses, the massacre in the southern city of Gwangju in 1980 shortly after President Chun Doo-hwan rose to power through a coup and the victimization of democracy fighters are recaptured in films such as "A Taxi Driver" (2017) and "1987: When the Day Comes" (2017).

In "Gwangju Video: The Missing" (2020), the latest film on the Gwangju Uprising, filmmaker Lee Jo-hoon puts the blame for the tragedy on Chun's military dictatorship and raises suspicions that conservative governments deliberately hid video footage of soldiers' mass shooting of unarmed Gwangju citizens.

He then shows contrasting scenes of conservative supporters holding rallies after Park's 2017 downfall and liberal supporters holding candlelit rallies in support of Cho Kuk. 

Cho was Moon's former senior civil affairs secretary before he was appointed justice minister in August 2019. Cho strove to push for the reform of the prosecution, but he resigned shortly after over corruption allegations.

When asked what his intentions were with such scenes, Lee said, "I understand that rally scenes can be interpreted through political lenses, but I wanted to show that pro-democracy protesters in the 1980s are still voicing their political opinions."

Earlier this month, Netflix came under fire for translating the Gwangju Uprising in 1980 as "riots" in the Japanese introduction of "A Taxi Driver," a South Korean film about a taxi driver who helped a German reporter cover the pro-democracy movement. The streamer revised the term a day after receiving the complaint.

The outpouring of movies featuring North Korea and inter-Korean relations is another striking trend in the film industry that began after Moon took power.

There has also been a shift in the way North Korea is described in films. 

Instead of seeing North Korea as South Korea's "main enemy" and describing the North as a military threat to South Korea, recent films try to remind the audience of the millennia-old history and culture that transcends the division of Korea.

"Ashfall" (2019), a big-budget disaster film that surpassed eight million ticket sales, faced a backlash for portraying a North Korean soldier as the hero saving his lackluster South Korean counterpart. 

In "Steel Rain 2: Summit" (2020), like its prequel "Steel Rain" (2017), North Korean officers and South Korean officials are featured as partners, not enemies.

Filmmaker Yang Woo-suk, who produced "The Attorney" and "Steel Rain," said he thinks cinema is a passive form of journalism in that they reflect the times we live in and have a social effect on the public.

"I think all movies are political to a certain degree. Even horror and comedy movies," Yang said. "I understand that people can have various thoughts on films based on their political orientation, but education and national security issues shouldn't be affected by it."

He voiced worries about alleged political influence on movies, saying South Korea may fall behind China if it continues.

"The reason we outperform China in culture is because South Korea is censorship-free. However, if the political divide affects the cultural and creative industry, our competitiveness will be weakened. Look what's happened to the comedy scene. Political satire has disappeared," he said.

The origin of politics' cozy relationship with films that curry favor with sitting leaders and their political orientations goes back to the 1980s when President Chun took power through a military coup after the assassination of President Park Chung-hee in October 1979.

The so-called "Three S policy" ― sports, screen and sex ― swept the country in the 1980s as then President Chun attempted to turn the public's attention away from his troubled rise to power. The military government was accused of flexing its muscles behind the surge of erotic movies. The 1980s were a dark decade for South Korean cinema.

Cinema-politics relations took a turn after the 1990s. The role of government behind cinema production became implicit. The portrayal of North Korea has changed with Kang Je-gyu's "Shiri" (1999), which follows the story of a North Korean spy in Seoul, followed by "TaeGukGi: Brotherhood of War" (2003). Before then, North Koreans were depicted as "red devils" with horns and fangs as in the animated feature "Gancheopjamneun Ttorijanggun" in 1979.

Movies aligned with sitting presidents are released.

"The Attorney" (2013), a film inspired by the life of late liberal President Roh Moo-hyun, and "Masquerade" (2012), a historical drama about a commoner recruited to impersonate a tyrannical king, caught the attention of then-President Park Geun-hye, who put left-leaning actors and filmmakers on a blacklist from government funding. 

After Moon came into power, films that depicted anti-Japan sentiment also became much-talked-about topics in films. 

"The Battleship Island" (2017) "I Can Speak" (2017), "A Resistance" (2019) "My Name is Kim Bok-dong" (2019) and "The Battle: Roar to Victory" (2019) touch upon wartime issues such as comfort women and wartime forced laborers. Another documentary "East Asia Anti-Japan Armed Front" is poised to hit theaters in August.

Films such as "Confidential Assignment" (2017), "Spy Gone North" (2018), "Steel Rain" and "Ashfall" somehow portray a partnership between a North Korean agent/officer and their South Korean counterpart.

Choi Gong-jae, a conservative filmmaker, said South Korean cinema needs diversity to stay attractive to the increasingly diverse and sophisticated audience. 

"I think cinemas have to offer diverse content, regardless of its underlying left-wing or right-wing identity, and then the audience can decide what to watch," Choi said. "Cinemas shouldn't impose political ideas on moviegoers and limit their movie selections."

He added, "The public should watch films carefully and think deeply about them. Don't just believe everything they say. Try to interpret the film's underlying message and the director's intentions. Otherwise, you could be politically assimilated by South Korea's cultural propaganda."

 

——————————————————

[Review] Is ‘Steel Rain 2: Summit’ a Movie that Goes Beyond the Prequel?

by krishkim | Translated by Kim Hoyeun

Steel Rain 2: Summit will be the second blockbuster movie to greet the audiences. It depicts a crisis near the brink of war after three leaders are kidnapped and held in a North Korean nuclear submarine when the coup d’état is carried out during a summit between the two Koreas and the United States.

 

Read Review => https://zapzee.net/2020/08/01/review-is-steel-rain-2-summit-a-movie-that-goes-beyond-the-prequel/

[Helena]

https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20200803002600315
Action adventure 'Steel Rain 2' tops 1 mln admissions

SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- The action adventure film "Steel Rain 2: Summit" has topped 1 million admissions in South Korea.

 

Released Wednesday, the film attracted 662,000 viewers from Friday to Sunday, raising the total admissions to 1.01 million, according to data by the Korean Film Council.

 

It is the third South Korean movie to surpass the 1 million admission line since the COVID-19 pandemic, following the zombie thrillers "#Alive" and "Peninsula."

 

Directed by Yang Woo-suk and starring Jung Woo-sung, the movie is about a fictional tripartite summit of the two Koreas and the United States. The leaders of the three countries are confined in a nuclear-powered submarine after a military coup in the North.

The former No. 1 "Peninsula" fell to second over the weekend with 303,000 moviegoers. Its total admissions reached 3.44 million.

A scene from "Steel Rain 2: Summit" by Lotte Entertainment (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

brk@yna.co.kr
(END)

 

——————————————————————

 

[Box Office - Daily] Steel Rain 2: Summit

 

Day / Daily Admission (people) / Total Admission (people) / Daily Rank
Prior to opening: 3,870 [3,870]
Wed 2020-07-29: 222,158 [226,028] (#1)
Thu 2020-07-30: 131,298 [357,326]
Fri 2020-07-31: 157,941 [515,267]
Sat 2020-08-01: 273,498 [788,765]
Sun 2020-08-02: 231,352 [1,020,117]
Mon 2020-08-03: 113,761 [1,133,878]
Tue 2020-08-04: 106,736 [1,240,614]
Wed 2020-08-05: 52,204 [1,292,818] (#2)
Thu 2020-08-06: 45,956 [1,338,774]
Fri 2020-08-07: 47,805 [1,386,579]
Sat 2020-08-08: 81,776 [1,468,355]
Sun 2020-08-09: 74,034 [1,542,389]
Mon 2020-08-10: 30,178 [1,572,567]

Tue 2020-08-11: 29,238 [1,601,803]

Wed 2020-08-12: 18,171 [1,619,971] (#3)

Thu 2020-08-13: 14,347 [1,634,319]

Fri 2020-08-14: 21,042 [1,654,906]

Sat 2020-08-15: 34,399 [1,689,307]

Sun 2020-08-16: 32,331 [1,721,641]

Mon 2020-08-17: 22,387 [1,744,028]

Source: http://www.kobis.or.kr/

[Helena]

https://www.koreanfilm.or.kr/eng/news/news.jsp?seq=5389&mode=VIEW
BEASTS CLAWING AT STRAWS Tears Up French Box Office

by Pierce Conran | Aug 12, 2020

Korean Thriller Earns Special Mention from Udine

The Korean thriller BEASTS CLAWING AT STRAWS was severely affected by the COVID-19 Pandemic, which hit Korea just has it went on release, but its luck has turned around after achieving an impressive box office performance in France, as well as receiving a festival accolade in Italy earlier this summer.

In France, BEASTS CLAWING AT STRAWS opened on July 8 and finished its first weekend at number six on the charts. After three weekends in the top ten, the film has earned USD 563,000 at the French box office. By comparison, the film had a disappointing result in its home market, where it sold just 627,000 tickets (USD 4.56 million), a number that likely would have been higher had its release not fallen around the time of the initial COVID-19 spike that occurred in the wake of ‘Patient 31’.

The highest grossing Korean film in France remains PARASITE, which grossed USD 15.36 million there last year after becoming the first Korean film to ever pick up the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

The debut of director KIM Yong-hun, BEASTS CLAWING AT STRAWS stars JUNG Woo-sung, JEON Do-yeon, BAE Sung-woo and YOUN Yuh-jung in a bloody tale of different characters trying to get their hands on a bag full of money. 

In June, the film screened at the Far East Film Festival (FEFF) in Udine, Italy, where it earned a Special Mention from the competition jury. The film originally premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam earlier this year, where it received a Special Jury Award in the Tiger Competition.

 

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https://www.koreanfilm.org/kfilm20.html#beastsclawing
[Review] Beasts Clawing at Straws

 By Darcy Paquet

It all starts with a Louis Vuitton bag stuffed full of cash. A worker at a small sauna in the seaside city of Pyeongtaek finds it crammed in a locker while cleaning up after hours, after everyone has gone home. His financial situation is too desperate for him to simply hand it over to the police, but on the other hand, he's not quite reckless enough to take it home at once. Instead he puts it in a safe place where nobody else will find it, and considers his next move.

Beasts Clawing at Straws We're familiar with stories of this type, and how the ensuing chain of events are fated to play out. What seems at first like a stroke of incredible good fortune will instead turn out to be quite the opposite. Still, the plot of Beasts Clawing at Straws is anything but predictable, partly because the canvas spreads out to encompass a wide spectrum of characters - a corrupt customs officer, an abused young woman working at a hostess bar, her scheming boss, an illegal immigrant from China, a gangster/loan shark with a mute enforcer, etc. - and partly because the screenplay combines all these cliches together into a complex and ingenious structure.

Based on a novel by Japanese crime writer Keisuke Sone, Beasts Clawing at Straws premiered at the Rotterdam film festival, where it won the Special Jury Award in the Tiger Competition, and then (unfortunately) opened in Korea just as the COVID-19 pandemic started to hit the country with full force. The film might otherwise have reached many viewers both domestically and internationally, because it highlights some of the strengths of contemporary Korean cinema while making the most out of its talented cast.

Popular star Jung Woo-sung, as the customs officer Tae-young, is initially the character who attracts the most attention. Tae-young is clearly not the most honest individual, but his efforts to extract himself from a thorny situation at least earn our sympathy. But it's midway through the film, with the appearance of Jeon Do-yeon as the heartless Yeon-hee that the story really kicks into gear. Cunning, ruthless (as if the shark tattoo weren't enough of a giveaway), she's more than a match for any of the film's other crooks and cheats. Amongst a collection of overall very solid leading and supporting performances, Jeon Do-yeon's is the one that really lights up the screen.

Beasts is director Kim Yong-hun's first feature film, but it's nonetheless a slick commercial package that exudes confidence. Kim is effective at building tension and maintaining it until the very end of the running time. And thankfully, the end is worth waiting for -- not so much because of clever twists lying in wait to throw the viewer off balance, but because everything converges and resolves in a satisfying way.